Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted by Reuters as saying that the Russian attacks caused total blackouts in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions and partial blackouts in the Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. The report quoted officials as saying that Ukrainian authorities accused Russian forces of launching retaliatory strikes on civilian infrastructure, including a thermal power station in Kharkiv, leading to widespread blackouts.
Russia attacked power stations and other infrastructure on Sunday, causing widespread damage across Ukraine as Kyiv’s forces launched a swift retaliation that pushed Moscow’s troops away from occupied territory in the northeast. An AP report said the bombing engulfed a power station on the western outskirts of Kharkiv and killed at least one person.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, appeared without electricity on Sunday night. Cars drove through the dark alleys, and some pedestrians used flashlights or mobile phones to light their way. Separately, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the Russian-occupied south completely shut down in a bid to avert a radiation disaster as fierce fighting broke out nearby.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “deliberate and cynical missile attacks” against civilian targets as acts of terrorism.
Kyiv’s actions in recent days to reclaim Russian-occupied territories in the Kharkiv region have forced Moscow to prevent its troops from retreating, leaving behind a significant number of weapons and armaments in a hasty flight. given because the war marked its 200th day on Sunday.
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Ukraine’s military chief, General Valery Zaluzny, told the AP that his forces had occupied about 3,000 square kilometers (1,160 sq mi) since the counter-offensive began in early September, adding that Ukrainian forces had occupied the Russian border. It is only 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) away. ,
A battalion shared a video of the Ukrainian military in front of a municipal building in Hoptivka, a mile from the border and about 19 kilometers (12 miles) north of Kharkiv. Kharkiv government Oleh Sinihubov said Ukrainian troops had gained control of more than 40 settlements in the region.
The Kharkiv and Donetsk regions bore the brunt of Russian missile strikes on Sunday night. Zelensky said that Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya and Sumy had only partially lost power. Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov called the power outage “retaliation for the successes of our forces at the front, especially in the Kharkiv region” by the Russian aggressor.
Ukrainian officials said Russia hit Kharkiv TEC-5, the country’s second-largest thermal and power plant, and Zelensky posted video of the fire at the Kharkiv power plant.
Zelensky, who remained defiant despite the attacks. Added, “Do you still think you can scare, break us, force us to make concessions” … The cold, hunger, darkness and thirst for us are not as scary and deadly as yours ‘Friendship and Brotherhood’. But history will fix everything. And we will live with gas, lights, water and food, and without you!”
Later in the evening, power supply was restored in some areas. None of the interruptions were believed to be related to the shutdown of reactors at the Zaporizhzhya plant. While most attention was focused on retaliation, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator said that Europe’s largest Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant had been reconnected to Ukraine’s electricity grid, prompting engineers to try their best to keep it safe amid the fighting. The last operational reactor was allowed to be shut down.
One of the world’s 10 largest nuclear power stations, the plant has been occupied by the Russian military since the early days of the war. Ukraine and Russia have blamed for the shelling around it.
As the fire caused by the shelling on 5 September shut down the plant from transmission lines, the reactor was powering critical safety equipment in so-called “island mode”, an unreliable regime that made the plant increasingly vulnerable to a potential nuclear accident. made weak. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear monitoring body with two experts on site, welcomed the resumption of external power. But IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he was “seriously concerned about the condition of the plant, which remains at risk as long as the shelling continues.”
In a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the withdrawal of Russian troops and weapons from the plant in line with IAEA recommendations. Moscow’s withdrawal of troops in recent days marked the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces as they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize Kyiv near the start of the war. It seemed that the Kharkiv campaign was taking Moscow by surprise; It had moved many of its troops from this area to the south hoping for a retaliatory strike.
(with Reuters/AP inputs)