600,000 without power in Ukraine as Russia launches 'massive' attack amid Trump's 'energy ceasefire'
LONDON -- At least 600,000 people were without power early Wednesday in Ukraine, after Russia launched an aerial attack that struck energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
"A targeted Russian ballistic missile strike specifically against energy infrastructure -- the very infrastructure covered by the ceasefire announced by the American President," the Ukrainian president said on social media.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that both sides had agreed to an "energy ceasefire."
The outages on Wednesday may become more widespread, the president said, as there is "significant" damage to at least 26 power facilities and four others in the gas and oil sector.
The attack included some 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones, officials said, with many targeted Kyiv and its surrounding area.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said in it carried out a "massive strike by ground-launched high-precision weapons and long-range drones against communication and energy infrastructure facilities" in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Katarina Mathernova, the European Union's ambassador to Ukraine, said more than a dozen explosions were heard before dawn in the Kyiv.
"A nine-storey apartment building was hit in the capital. Fire spread through people’s homes," Mathernova said early on Wednesday. "Rescuers helped residents down ladders while others stood outside, watching their building burn."
Mathernova and Ukrainian officials said an early warning system, which detects aerial attacks and allows for better defense, appeared to not have worked for a second night in a row.
"That missing warning means missing time," Mathernova said. "Time to wake a child. To get downstairs. To reach a shelter."
Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, described the overnight strike on Kyiv as "massive," saying at least one person had been killed in the capital.
Ukrainian also struck Russian military overnight, according to the Ukrainian General Staff, which said it targeted sites that Russia was known to use to launch drones.
"In the area of Donetsk, a site used by the enemy for the storage, preparation and launch of attack UAVs was hit," Ukraine said. "Systematic strikes against such sites are aimed at reducing the russian aggressor’s ability to strike civilian infrastructure across Ukraine."
