The Russian military launched overnight drones across Ukraine late last night. Russian drones successfully hit a power facility in the Sumy region in the northeastern part of the country. Ukrainian mobile drone hunter groups and air defence units shot down 24 of the 27 Russian drones fired on 12 regions, the air force said.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said the energy facility in the Sumy region was damaged, forcing emergency electricity shut-offs for industrial consumers in the city of Sumy. Repair teams were working to restore supplies, it said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or other damage details from the regions. Since March, Russian forces have intensified their bombardments of the Ukrainian power sector, knocking out the bulk of the thermal and hydropower generation and forcing long blackouts across the country. Ukrenergo planned scheduled cut-offs of electricity throughout the day across the country as domestic generation and electricity imports could not cover the deficit.
Ukraine’s energy system was already hobbled in the first year after Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The power system lost about half of its available generation capacity due to the Russian missile and drone attacks in the past four months.
Russian drone attacks early on Saturday also hit the local water system and knocked out the water supply, officials were quoted as saying. Public broadcaster Suspilne reported a series of explosions in the city northeast of the capital Kyiv. It quoted municipal officials as saying water supplies had been temporarily cut.
The Sumy region is subject to almost daily shelling from Russian positions from across the border. Russian troops also staged a cross-border incursion in May in the neighbouring Kharkiv region and officials have reported a periodic buildup of troops near the Sumy region on the Russian side of the border.
(With inputs from Reuters)
