Russia targets Ukraine’s energy infra with barrage of drones & missiles

Kyiv, March 29

Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Friday, with a mass barrage of 99 drones and missiles hitting regions across the country, Ukraine's armed forces said.

Air raid warnings rang out across the country, with 10 Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the country's Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, said.

Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital, Kyiv, and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war.

Large-scale blackouts have already affected Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, where 700,000 people lost power after the city's thermal power plant was hit in a drone and missile attack on March 22.

In the winter of 2022-23, Russia targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing frequent blackouts across the country. Many in

Ukraine and the West expected that Russia might repeat this strategy this winter, but Russia instead focused its strikes on Ukraine's defence industries. — AP

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