OMM Newsroom
Ukraine is trying to prevent nationwide power cuts ahead of winter as Russian missile and drone attacks intensify. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said all of the country’s power plants had been damaged.
Energy workers are carrying out repairs around the clock to maintain electricity supplies amid the attacks, Zelenskyy said on Thursday while addressing the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, AnewZ reports. He called for urgent deliveries of transformers, cables, generators and other electrical equipment.
Ukraine is seeking transformers from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, cables from Chile, and electrical equipment and generators from Spain. Zelenskyy urged governments to connect Kyiv with companies able to provide the equipment urgently.
Attacks cause power cuts in several regions
Before the appeal, Russia launched large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Tuesday. Zelenskyy said Moscow had launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles, hitting power plants and substations from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the western city of Rivne.
Ukrainian officials said the attacks caused power cuts in Kyiv and at least six other regions.
“The fact that all this happened on the day of the US congressional elections says a lot,” Zelenskyy said, calling for more air defense systems.
Ukraine has also continued long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. An analysis of videos showing strikes on industrial facilities in the city indicated that the Ryazan oil refinery, southeast of Moscow, may have been hit in a large-scale drone attack overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
Death toll from strike on school in Komyshuvakha rises to 42
Police in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said on Thursday that 42 people had been killed in a Russian strike on Monday on a school in the village of Komyshuvakha, which was being used as a humanitarian aid distribution point. Dozens of people are missing.
Zelenskyy said the school was about 17 kilometers from the nearest Russian positions. Although classes were no longer held there, the building provided shelter and aid was distributed there every Monday.
According to the Ukrainian president, Russian forces first struck the building as residents gathered to receive aid, then attacked the place where people had taken shelter.
Moscow and Kyiv deny deliberately targeting civilians.
The intensifying attacks come days before US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine. The meetings are scheduled for November 10-11 in Abu Dhabi.
Zelenskyy said a proposed ceasefire covering energy infrastructure would be Ukraine’s main priority in the talks.
