Russia Hits Ukraine’s Power System for Eighth Time Since March

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(Bloomberg) — Kremlin forces struck a residential area of Kharkiv with glide bombs on Saturday afternoon, hours after a missile and drone barrage directed at Ukraine’s already hobbled power system.

At least three people were killed and 37 wounded in one of the northeastern city’s most densely populated districts, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. Apartments on three floors were damaged, according to Suspilne website. Rescue and recovery efforts are continuing. 

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In a response on X, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the guided aerial bomb strikes showed that “bold decisions from our partners are needed.” 

Ukraine’s state-owned power grid operator said earlier it would extend previously planned blackouts after Russian missiles hit critical energy facilities for the eighth time since March.

Ukrenergo extended the window for power outages throughout much of Ukraine on Saturday by an additional two hours. Consumers should expect to be without electricity for ten hours, until midnight, the operator said on Telegram. 

Power grid equipment in the far western Lviv and southeastern Zaporizhzhia regions was hit by Russian air strikes overnight. 

The city of Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine also sustained a missile strike. Buildings were damaged at the National Technical University of Oil and Gas, which trains engineers and others in the energy industry.  

Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the strikes, saying it acted in response to Ukraine’s attempts to damage Russian energy facilities. Ammunition depots with weapons supplied by Western countries were also a target, the ministry said on Telegram. There was no subsequent comment on the Kharkiv bombing. 

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Two Ukrenergo staff were injured in Zaporizhzhia, and a fire broke out at a facility in Lviv region which took several hours and several fire brigades to extinguish. 

Kremlin forces launched 16 missiles of various types as well as 13 Shahed drones, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram. 

All the drones and 12 missiles were intercepted, according to Telegram channels of Oleshchuk and Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi.  

Poland’s army scrambled jets, according to a statement on the X social media platform, as it typically does when Russian missiles target far western Ukraine.

Ukraine’s power systems have been a target of frequent air strikes since the fall of 2022 and consumers across the country suffered power cuts lasting hours at a time and often continuing for weeks. 

The strikes intensified in March and destroyed around 9Gw of Ukraine’s power output capacity. Planned blackouts have been occurring widely over the past few weeks. 

(Updates with new casualty count from Kharkiv from second paragraph.)

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