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The Ukrainian capital was plunged into darkness early on Friday by what the air force called a “massive attack”, as Russia pummelled Kyiv’s infrastructure, cutting off water and energy supplies and triggering a fire in a high-rise apartment building.
Kyiv’s mayor said Russian forces had targeted “critical infrastructure” and nine people had been injured, with five of them taken to hospital. Vitali Klitschko also said power cuts and disruptions to the water supply had hit districts on the east bank of the Dnipro River that runs through the city.
Pictures posted online showed apartments ablaze as firefighters moved into position. Fragments from downed drones also struck several parts of the city.
Agence France-Presse journalists in Kyiv heard several powerful explosions on Friday and experienced blackouts at their homes across different districts of the city.
“The capital of the country is under an enemy ballistic missile attack and a massive attack by the enemy strike drones,” the Ukrainian air force said, urging people in Kyiv to remain in shelters.
The energy minister, Svitlana Grynchuk, said Russian forces were “inflicting a massive strike” on the grid.
“Energy experts are taking all necessary measures to minimise negative consequences,” she said on Facebook.
“As soon as safety conditions allow, energy experts will begin clarifying the consequences of the attack and conducting restoration work.”
Moscow has escalated aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and rail systems over recent weeks, mirroring similar campaigns launched over the previous three winters that left people without heating in frigid temperatures.
Fearing an incoming hypersonic Kinzhal missile – which is harder to detect and intercept – Ukraine put the entire country on alert on Friday.
Russia also hit the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia with at least seven overnight drone strikes, killing a seven-year-old and wounding at least three people, according to Ivan Fedorov, the head of the regional military administration.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Moscow was seeking to “create chaos and apply psychological pressure” through crippling energy facilities and railways.
The Ukrainian president has said Russian attacks this year have already strained Ukrainian gas infrastructure, and more strikes could force his country to ramp up imports.
Ukraine has also stepped up its drone and missile strikes on Russian territory, a tactic that Zelenskyy said was showing “results” and pushing up fuel prices in Russia.
A Ukrainian hit on a power station in the Russian border region of Belgorod also caused power outages.
Russia accused Ukraine on Thursday of rupturing a now defunct pipeline near the frontline used to transport ammonia into Ukraine for export, releasing toxic gas.
It posted a video showing what appeared to be clouds of a chemical compound spewing from a source in the ground.
Authorities in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said the incident did not present a “menace to the lives of people” living nearby.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
