More than 1,300 Ukrainian towns and villages left without electricity following Russian missile attacks
At least 1,307 residential locations in Ukraine were without electricity as of 9 p.m. local time on October 10. This was reported by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Power outages are due to the power grid disruption caused by today’s massive shelling all across Ukraine.
Electric supply has been disrupted in the following regions of Ukraine: Sumy (766 residential locations), Lviv (353), Ternopil (169), Kyiv (13), and Khmelnytskyi (6).
The Emergency Service also reports that 14 people have been killed as the result of today’s massive strike, and 97 more have been injured.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 84 Russian missiles were fired today at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. 43 of them were shot down by the Ukrainian air defense systems. In addition, 13 out of the 24 Russian combat drones launched today were shot down. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that it targeted military, energy, and communications facilities, but in reality, civilian objects were targeted and destroyed or damaged.
Reuters points out that this was the largest Russian air strike since the beginning of the war.
Due to the disruptions of the grid, Ukraine has decided to pause its electric energy exports to Europe beginning on October 11, to stabilize its internal energy situation.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has explained today’s massive air strikes on Ukraine as Russia’s response to the October 8 explosion that damaged the Crimean Bridge — Russia’s key artery to the annexed peninsula. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian intelligence claims that Russia planned these missile strikes as far back as October 2 or October 3.
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