🔸Russia launches major attack on Ukraine’s energy network

Russia on Wednesday, September 30 (October 8) launched the broad air operation that had been expected in advance against Ukraine’s energy network, targeting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other areas. The attack was the heaviest combined assault on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months.

According to Ukrainian officials, in this attack—which took place after several days of heightened drone attacks—seven people were killed. The recent strikes, which many Ukrainians view as a prelude to winter attacks, were mainly aimed at the Ukrainian capital. According to Ukrainian officials, the goal is to plunge cities into cold and darkness at a time when Ukraine is facing a shortage of air defense systems.

Ukrenergo, the state operator of Ukraine’s power grid, said that as a result of the Wednesday attack, it was forced to implement emergency power outages in Kyiv and three surrounding regions. This was the first time since this spring that such a measure was carried out in the capital.

Some of Kyiv’s trams and electric buses stopped running due to the power outages, while people were returning home from work. Kyiv’s water supply company also said that water pressure in the network has dropped.