Russia hits more than 15 Ukrainian energy sites in one of its largest strikes on the grid

Russia carried out what President Volodymyr Zelensky called “one of the largest strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure” overnight into Saturday, 17 October, targeting more than 15 key power generation and transmission facilities, the Kyiv Independent and AP reported.

The attack

• Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 332 drones, including jet-powered attack drones, and that 289 were downed, according to the Kyiv Independent. AP reported that all four cruise missiles were intercepted. Drones and ballistic missiles struck 22 locations.
• Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said repair crews restored power to more than a million people who lost it on Friday, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. In the north-western Volyn region about 370,000 households lost power; the mayor of Lutsk said the blackout there could last at least 24 hours.
• “Russia is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter,” Zelensky said, according to the BBC.

Casualties

• Russian attacks across nine regions on Friday killed at least eight people and injured about 60, Ukrainian officials said (Al Jazeera). Victims included a 71-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man in Kharkiv, two people in Kramatorsk, and one person each in Volyn and Rivne, where a shopping centre was hit. A shopping centre in Sumy was also struck.
• In Kovel, drones hit a customs terminal on the main road from Kyiv to Poland and set about 10 trucks on fire.

Moscow’s stated plans

According to Reuters, Russia’s military chief told Vladimir Putin on Friday that the forces needed to continue the air campaign against Ukraine’s energy system had been allocated. Heavy strikes on the grid ahead of winter have been a recurring feature of the war.