The Russian military has launched a wave of strikes on Ukraine’s gas energy infrastructure, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that the group strike was carried out overnight and targeted facilities supporting operations of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. “The objective of the strike has been met. All designated targets have been hit,” officials said, without providing enumerating the facilities affected or listing the forces involved in the attack.
Ukrainian officials have also confirmed strikes in several regions while reporting blackouts, specifying damage to energy infrastructure in Poltava Region, and the Ukraine-controlled part of Zaporozhye Region.
Leader Vladimir Zelensky has said that there has been damage in Odessa, Sumy, Kharkov, Khmelnytsky, and Kiev Regions, and that the attack involved missiles, strike drones, and aerial bombs. He said that three people had been killed in Poltava, two in Sumy, and one in Kharkov, with many injured.
Russia unleashes
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces had launched attacks aimed at Ukraine’s gas and other energy infrastructure and had shot down 108 Ukrainian drones in the last 24 hours, Russian news agencies reported.
Since March 2024, Russia has launched multiple missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power sector and other energy infrastructure, knocking out about half of the country’s available generating capacity and forcing rolling blackouts.
As the war approaches its three-year mark this month and Russian forces make steady gains in eastern Ukraine, edging closer to the strategic logistic hub of Pokrovsk, both sides are using drones to hit infrastructure and disrupt military supply lines.
But some of the war’s fiercest battles in recent months have been taking place in the Kursk region that borders Ukraine. As of 10 p.m. local time Saturday, 84 people had been rescued or received medical assistance, the statement said. Four of the injured were in serious condition. Rescue efforts to clear rubble were proceeding.
Russia’s defense ministry said early Sunday on Telegram that Ukraine’s forces launched “a targeted missile strike on a boarding school in the city of Sudzha” from the territory of Ukraine. Russia’s acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, also blamed Kyiv forces for the strike and said there is no reliable information yet about the number of potential victims.
Attack on Kharkiv
The Ukrainian air force said Russian forces launched 123 drones and more than 40 missiles. Its air defense units shot down 56 of the drones and redirected 61, it said. The air force provided no figures on how many missiles were intercepted.
In Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast, one person was killed and four were wounded in a drone attack, the mayor said. Three police officers were killed during the attacks as they patrolled streets in a village in the northeastern region of Sumy, regional officials said.
In Poltava, around 120 kilometers from the Russian border, about 18 apartment buildings,and energy infrastructure were damaged, city authorities said.
Ukrainian officials said that damage was also registered in the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast, and Khmelnytskyi in the west. Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces used six missiles and 17 Shahed drones to target gas infrastructure and other facilities.
Meanwhile Zelensky has claimed that these attacks prove that Kiev needs more funding, “Each such terrorist attack proves that we need more support in defending ourselves against Russian terror. Every air defense system, every anti-missile weapon, saves lives,” the Ukrainian President said earlier on the Telegram app.
It is to be noted that by March 2024, mostly Western governments had pledged more than $380 billion worth of aid to Ukraine since the Russia Ukraine war began, including nearly $118 billion in direct military aid from individual countries. European countries have provided the most aid in total (military, financial and humanitarian), while the United States has by far provided the most military aid.
The huge aid costs and with no real dividends on the ground in Ukraine, the new look Trump regime is looking to veer away from the conflict. Since taking office US President Donald Trump has attempted to begin peace negotiations with Russia. It is hoped by many that a soon to be meet between US President Trump and Russia President Putin will put an end to the long drawn conflict that has drained billions of dollars of resources and cost thousands of lives.
