Ukraine lights out as Russia launches ‘massive’ strike

Hundreds of thousands of people in central and western Ukraine have woken up to blackouts and periodic gunfire as Ukrainian air defenses try to shoot down drones and incoming missiles.

Russia has stepped up its crackdown on power stations, water systems and other critical infrastructure across the country, the latest phase of the war as it approaches the eight-month mark.

The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement Saturday that Russia launched a “massive missile attack” on “critical infrastructure” hours after airstrike sirens sounded across the country.

It said it had shot down 18 of 33 cruise missiles launched from the air and sea.

Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging service that “several rockets” aimed at the capital Kyiv were shot down on Saturday morning.

Similar reports were made by the governors of six western and central provinces and the Odessa region south of the Black Sea.

Five drones carrying explosives were shot down in the central Cherkassy region southeast of Kyiv, the president’s office said in a morning statement.

The western city of Khmelnitsky, which spanned the Bug River and was home to about 275,000 people before the war, suffered a power outage shortly after local media reported several loud explosions.

In a social media post on Saturday, the city council urged locals to store water “in case there is no water for an hour”.

The mayor of Lutsk, Ukraine’s westernmost city of 215,000, made a similar appeal on Telegram on Saturday.

He said power in Lutsk had been partially cut off after Russian missiles slammed into local energy facilities.

The central city of Uman, an important pilgrimage center for Hasidic Jews, with about 100,000 residents before the war, was also plunged into darkness after a rocket hit a nearby power station, regional authorities said on Telegram.

In the capital and four surrounding areas, including Cherkassy, ​​rolling blackouts began on Saturday morning due to reduced power supplies.

National energy company Ukrenergo continues to urge all Ukrainians to conserve energy.

Earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on consumers to curb their electricity usage between 7am and 11am each day and to avoid energy-intensive appliances such as electric heaters.

Over the past two weeks, Moscow has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure.

About 40 percent of the country’s power system was severely damaged, officials said.

Zelensky said earlier this week that 30 percent of Ukraine’s power stations had been destroyed since October 10.