On energy system

Ukraine reports air strikes with cluster munitions

Electrical engineers repair a power line.(Bild: AFP/Florent Vergnes)

The Ukrainian government reported massive Russian airstrikes across the country on Thursday, particularly on the energy infrastructure. Cruise missiles with cluster munitions are said to have been used. Several nuclear power plants had to be taken off the grid.

Millions of people were cut off from the power supply. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Russia had de facto mined several energy facilities through the use of cluster munitions. This and the shelling of civilian infrastructure was "a very despicable escalation."

Half of the capacity paralyzed
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the enemy has already paralyzed around half of the country's available generation capacity during the war. The distribution network has been damaged, forcing the authorities to carry out long power cuts. In the latest case, the capital Kiev and the eastern regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk are among those affected. There were also partial disruptions to the water supply on Thursday.

Electrical engineers repairing a power line(Bild: AFP/Florent Vergnes)

Power outage in a restaurant in Kiev(Bild: AFP/Roman Pilipey)

A Russian rocket(Bild: AP/Ukrainian Emergency Service)

A Ukrainian woman in front of one of the last open pharmacies(Bild: AFP/Florent Vergnes)

Deaths from drone attacks
The regional capital Rivne switched to distance learning. Explosions were also reported from almost all parts of the country. In Kharkiv, two men were killed by a Russian drone, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov announced on the Telegram platform. One person was reported injured in each of two other areas. An air alert was in place in Kiev for over nine hours until Thursday morning.

Zelenskyi repeated his appeal to Western allies to supply more equipment for Ukraine's air defenses. The coming winter months are critical. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the large-scale attack on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territories with US missiles (see video above). 17 targets were hit, including military installations and defense industry facilities.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have reported the capture of another settlement. There are currently repeated reports of rapid Russian advances.