Russia again targets Ukraine's energy infrastructure in 'massive attack'
Russia targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in another "massive attack" Friday night into Saturday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
"All necessary services are currently working to restore electricity and water supply in our communities affected by Russia’s overnight attack," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. "Once again, the main strike targeted our energy sector, the south of the country, and the Odesa region."
Russia used almost 500 drones and missiles in a combined strike on Ukraine's critical infrastructure facilities overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday morning.
In total, Russia launched 465 drones as well as 30 air-, sea- and ground-based missiles. The main direction of the strike was the Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed.
The air force said it shot down or suppressed 417 drones and 13 missiles. However, 33 drones and eight missiles struck areas at 18 locations, while downed ones fell at three locations. An additional six missiles did not reach their targets and the places of their fall are under investigation, according to the air force.
Two people were injured in the Odesa region and thousands of families remain without electricity in the Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions, according to Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy confirmed that the Russian drone and missile strikes targeted electricity generation, distribution and transmission facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
Customers in the Odesa, Chernihiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv regions were without power as of Saturday morning, according to the ministry.
At least five people were injured in the Mykolaiv region, where all critical infrastructure facilities had to be switched to operating from generators as a result of the "massive attack," according to Vitaliy Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration.
The attack also left all traction substations without power supply in Odesa, forcing the city to temporarily suspend tram and trolleybus services, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration.
ABC News' Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
