KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia resumed its airstrikes on Ukraine’s power grid and Kyiv’s armed forces again targeted Russian oil facilities with cross-border drone strikes, officials said Thursday.
With no major changes reported along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) frontline, where a recent push by Kremlin forces in eastern and northeastern Ukraine has produced only incremental gains, both sides in the war have focused on distant infrastructure targets.
In its seventh major attack on Ukrainian power plants since Moscow stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure three months ago, Russia fired nine missiles and 27 Shahed drones at energy facilities and critical infrastructure in central and eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Air defenses intercepted all drones and five cruise missiles, the report said.
According to national energy company Ukrenergo, the attack hit power structures in the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev and Vinnytsia regions of Ukraine.
Private energy company DTEK said one of its power plants was hit in the overnight attack, but did not specify its location. Three company employees were injured and the plant’s equipment was seriously damaged, DTEK said on social media.
Among the most damaging recent attacks on Ukraine’s energy supplies were a barrage in April that damaged Kiev’s largest thermal power plant, and a massive attack on May 8 that targeted electricity generation and transmission facilities in several regions.
Continued power outages have hit Ukrainian households and industry.
In Russia, authorities in two regions reported fires at oil warehouses following drone strikes, two days after a Ukrainian attack caused a massive fire at another refinery.
Ukraine has stepped up airstrikes on Russian territory in recent months, targeting refineries and oil terminals in a bid to disrupt the Kremlin’s war machine.
Murat Kumpilov, head of Russia’s Adygea region, said a Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at an oil depot in the city of Enem, which was later extinguished.
The head of the Tambov region, Maxim Yegorov, said an oil reservoir was on fire at an oil depot there.
Governor Veniamin Kondratyev of the Krasnodar Region said a drone hit a private house in the city of Slavyansk, killing a woman.
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 15 Ukrainian drones over three regions, but did not report any damage.
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