BBC News 18 October 2022
Russian forces have again targeted Ukraine's energy facilities, leaving part of Kyiv and other cities with no power and water.
A presidential aide said the situation across Ukraine was now critical.
Prosecutors say two people were killed in an attack on the capital. Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from around a power station near the Dnipro river.
"Everyone should be ready, first, to save electricity, and second, rolling power blackouts are also possible if strikes continue," said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the president's office. "The entire population needs to prepare for a tough winter."
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter on Tuesday that in the past eight days, 30% of Ukraine's power stations had been destroyed, "causing massive blackouts across the country".
Ukrainian energy firm DTEK said two of its thermal power plants had been significantly damaged by Russian shelling, leaving one worker dead and six others wounded.
Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks on electricity infrastructure in cities away from the front lines. Officials have rushed to repair the damage, but the strikes, ahead of winter, have raised concerns about how the system will respond.
The latest attacks came 24 hours after "kamikaze" drones believed to have been supplied by Iran killed at least nine people in Kyiv and Sumy, with strikes on infrastructure causing power outages in hundreds of towns and villages.
It was not initially clear to what extent drones were involved on Tuesday, although Ukraine said Russian bombers had fired missiles and one S-300 anti-aircraft missile had hit a residential building in the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, killing one person. The city's flower market was also destroyed.
In Kyiv, presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said the Troyeschyna area on the bank of the Dnipro river and some other residential areas had been left without electricity and water.
In other attacks early on Tuesday:
- In Zhytomyr, the mayor said there was no power or water in the city and hospitals were working on back-up power
- 11 villages in the Zhytomyr region were also without electricity, officials said.
- Power and water supplies were disrupted in the central city of Dnipro, where a large energy facility was destroyed, and officials said street lighting would be turned off
- Shelling was reported in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv
- Infrastructure in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was hit, although local officials said no-one had been hurt.
In some cities, Ukrainians are buying power generators and gas burners, while across the country, people have been urged to reduce their energy consumption at peak times. Some towns are already facing rolling blackouts.
In a separate development, Ukraine's state nuclear energy company accused Moscow of abducting two senior officials at its nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia. The plant is occupied by Russian forces but its Ukrainian staff continue to work there under difficult conditions.
"We were expecting that Russia will intensify attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian infrastructure and increase the urban warfare towards autumn and here we are exactly with that scenario taking place," Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko told the BBC.
In its latest assessment, UK defence intelligence said that it was highly likely that Russia had becoming increasingly willing to strike civilian infrastructure in addition to military targets since its setbacks on the battlefield in recent weeks.
Russia's missile and drone attacks have brought renewed calls from the Ukrainian government for the delivery of air defence missiles.
Earlier, the US said it agreed with its French and UK allies that the supply of drones by Iran violated a UN Security Council resolution linked to a nuclear agreement, barring the transfer of certain military technology.
Ukraine has identified the drones used in deadly attacks on Kyiv and Sumy as Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Vedant Patel of the US state department said the US would not hesitate to use sanctions.
Both Russia and Iran have denied that Iranian drones were deployed. The EU has said it is gathering evidence and is ready to act.
Meanwhile, in one of the biggest prisoner swaps since Russia's war began in February, 218 detainees were exchanged - including 108 Ukrainian women.
And across the Sea of Azov from Ukraine, a Russian fighter jet crashed into the courtyard of a block of flats in the southern Russian town of Yeysk. At least 13 people were killed, including three children, while dozens of residents were rescued from the nine-storey block.
The pilots on board the Su-34 plane ejected.
