Ukraine war: Blackouts in 1, 162 towns and villages after Russia strikes – BBC

More than a thousand towns and villages across Ukraine remain without power after massive Russian attacks in recent days, Ukrainian officials have said.

Emergency services spokesman Oleksandr Khorunzhyi said more compared to 70 people had been killed in the rocket plus drone strikes since 7 October.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 30% of Ukraine’s power stations had been destroyed in the past eight days.

Parts of the capital Kyiv have no power and water after new strikes on Tuesday.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said that all three victims of the latest Russian strikes were employees of “critical infrastructure”, adding that will two facilities in the capital had been hit.

Power and water were cut in Zhytomyr, west of the particular capital, and one energy facility was hit in the south-eastern city of Dnipro.

At Tuesday’s briefing in Kyiv, Mr Khorunzhyi stated: “In the period from October 7 to 18, as a result associated with shelling of energy facilities, about 4, 000 settlements inside 11 regions [of Ukraine] were cut off.

“Currently, according to the power ministry, 1, 162 settlements remain without power, ” the emergencies services spokesman said.

After suffering a series of painful defeats on the battlefield, Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks on electricity infrastructure in cities away from the front lines.

Ukrainian emergency officials possess rushed to repair the damage, but the strikes, ahead of winter, have raised concerns about how the system will respond.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the particular deputy head of the president’s office, said that “everyone should be ready, first, to save electricity, plus second, rolling power blackouts are also possible if strikes continue”.

“The entire population needs to prepare for a tough winter. ”

Ukrainian are being urged not use electric appliances between 07: 00 – 09: 00 local time (04: 00 – 06: 00 GMT) and 17: 00 – 22: 00 upon a daily basis.

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, within the north-east.

It was not really initially clear to what extent drones were involved on Tuesday.

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 damaged.

In other attacks early on Tuesday:

Inside some cities, Ukrainians are buying power generators plus gas burners. 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 — Europe’s biggest – 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 particular 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 it was highly likely that will Russia had become increasingly willing to strike civilian infrastructure, in addition to military targets, since its setbacks on the battleground.

Russia’s missile and drone attacks have got brought renewed calls through the Ukrainian government for the delivery of air defence missiles.

Earlier, the US said it agreed with its French and UNITED KINGDOM allies that the supply of drones by Iran violated an UN Security Council resolution linked to a nuclear agreement, barring the particular 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). They are known as Geran-2 in Russia.

Vedant Patel of the US state department said Washington would not hesitate to use sanctions. The EU said this was gathering evidence and was ready to act.

Both Russian federation and Iran have denied that Iranian drones had been deployed.

However , Western officials within Ukraine said it was not in doubt that the particular drones had come from Serbia and it was obvious Russia was seeking in order to attack the power network.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he would ask President Zelensky to sever diplomatic ties with Tehran. He also said an official note will be sent to Israel appealing with regard to immediate air defence supplies.

Israeli officials have so far stopped short of sending weapons to Kyiv. One Russian security figure, Dmitry Medvedev, has warned that if they did, relations with Moscow would be destroyed.

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 associated with Azov from Ukraine, a Russian fighter jet crashed into the courtyard of a block of flats in the southern part of 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.