In '81-missile-attack', Russia targets Ukrainian power infra as nuclear plant left without electricity supply

Kyiv: At least nine people were reportedly killed and a key nuclear power plant was left without electricity supply as Russia launched a fearsome barrage of missiles and drones on several cities across Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian air force, the Russian strikes featured 81 missiles and eight drones. These included six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which is said to be one of the most deadly missiles in the world.

The Ukrainian government claimed in an official statement that the country’s military forces managed to destroy 34 cruise missiles and four Shahed suicide drones while eight drones and guided missiles were also prevented from reaching their targets.

“The enemy fired 81 missiles in an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians again, returning to their miserable tactics,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as saying by AFP.

Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, the Black Sea port of Odesa and the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv were all hit as the Russian missiles hit a wide arc of targets, stretching from Zhytomyr, Vynnytsia and Rivne in the west to Dnipro and Poltava in central Ukraine, officials said.

The Ukrainian government claimed that the attack was intended against the energy infrastructure in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was left without electricity supply following the Russian attack and is running on diesel generators, Ukrainian nuclear energy operator Energoatom said Thursday.

“The last power line between the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP and the Ukrainian power system was cut off as a result of rocket attacks,” Energoatom said in a statement.

This was the sixth time that the facility had been disconnected from the electricity grid since Russian forces captured the plant last year.

“The plant is being powered by diesel generators, which can provide the facility’s energy needs for 10 days. The countdown has begun. If it is impossible to renew the external power supply of the station during this time, an accident with radiation consequences for the whole world may occur,” Energoatom added.

The Russian military had seized the plant on March 4 last year, just days after invading Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling around Zaporizhzhia, the biggest nuclear facility in Europe.

The UN’s nuclear agency IAEA deployed observers to the plant in September and is seeking to negotiate a demilitarised zone near the facility, but talks appear to have stalled.

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