Russian missile strikes knock out electricity in Kyiv

Russian missile strikes pummelled energy facilities across Ukraine knocking out electricity in the whole of the Kyiv region and causing blackouts in neighboring Moldova on Wednesday.

Officials say at least one person was killed and 20 wounded in the Kyiv region, where water supplies were also badly disrupted after critical infrastructure was hit.

“(Missiles) Hit one of the capital’s infrastructures facilities. Stay in shelters! The air alert continues,” Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The regional administration later said: “The Kyiv region is complete without electricity. There is also a partial lack of heating and water supply.”

Ukraine’s national power grid operator said on Tuesday the damage dealt to power-generating facilities was “colossal” but dismissed the need to evacuate civilians even though temperatures have dropped with the onset of winter.

Wednesday’s missile strikes also caused blackouts across all of the Chernihiv regions in northern Ukraine and emergency outages were imposed in Lviv in Western Ukraine and most other regions.

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Half of Ukraine’s neighbor, Moldova, suffered a blackout, the deputy prime minister of the tiny former Soviet republic said.

Ukraine’s nuclear energy firm Energoatom said units were shut down at the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine because of a loss of power after the air strikes but added: “Everything is fine with the station.”

Russian attacks have knocked out power for long periods for up to 10 million consumers at a time.

Ukraine’s national power grid operator said on Wednesday more blackouts would be necessary across the country but not many people were affected.

Zainab Sa’id