Kiev [Ukraine], November 18: There were blackouts in parts of Ukraine on Sunday after the Russian military launched a massive missile and drone attack targeting multiple cities - including Kiev and Odessa - and pounding the country's energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian air defences intercepted most of the 120 missiles and 90 drones launched by Russian forces overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
"Our air defences destroyed more than 140 aerial targets," Zelensky said. "Unfortunately, there is damage to buildings from hits and falling debris." Zelensky said the Russian attacks had primarily targeted energy infrastructure across the country, resulting in power outages in certain areas. Clean-up work was under way, he added. Two residential buildings in Kiev caught fire, officials said. Explosions were also reported in Zaporizhzhya, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Odessa.
In several areas, power was switched off as a precautionary measure to prevent a potential overload of the grid should energy facilities be hit.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed it deliberately went after Ukraine's power grid, saying the targeted infrastructure had supplied the Ukrainian arms industry with electricity.
Deaths as high-rise and railway depot hit Two women were killed and six others were injured, including two children, in a drone attack overnight on the southern city of Mykolaiv, regional military governor Vitalii Kim said on Sunday morning. Kim reported damage to private homes, a high-rise building, a shopping centre and several cars. He also noted that an unidentified infrastructure structure had been hit. Elsewhere on Sunday two railway workers were killed when a depot came under fire in the south-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk.
Source: Qatar Tribune