Russia has unleashed a new wave of missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, causing explosions in the capital Kyiv and hitting cities across the country.
Key points:
- At least 17 missiles hit the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia in an hour, local officials said
- Missiles hit infrastructure in Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv and the Dnipropetrovsk region in the centre of the country
- The air force said Ukrainian air defences had shot down five of seven drones
One missile launched off a ship in the Black Sea crossed into Moldovan airspace before hitting Ukraine, coming within 35 kilometres of the northeast border of NATO-member Romania.
Ukraine's air force said Russia fired 71 cruise missiles — of which 61 were shot down — and explosions were reported by local officials around the country including in the capital Kyiv.
At least 17 missiles hit the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia in an hour in the heaviest attack since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, according to local officials.
Energy Minister German Galushchenko said thermal and hydro power generation facilities and high-voltage infrastructure had been hit in six regions, forcing emergency electricity shutdowns across most of the country.
"The most difficult situation is in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Khmelnytskyi regions," he said, referring to regions in the southeast, northeast and west of Ukraine.
"Thanks to the successful work of the air defence forces and early technical measures, it was possible to preserve the integrity of the energy system of Ukraine.
"Energy workers are working non-stop to restore energy supply."
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said four of its thermal power stations had been damaged and two energy workers were injured.
Water supplies were also hit in some areas, local officials said.
There was no immediate word of any deaths but Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov said eight people had been wounded.
The new Russian attacks followed a rare trip abroad this week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that included talks with European Union leaders in Brussels aimed at securing more weapons for Ukraine including fighter jets.
Missile detected near NATO airspace
On Friday, Moldova's Ministry of Defence said a missile was detected traversing its airspace near the border with Ukraine.
Moldova's foreign ministry said in a statement that the Russian ambassador in Chisinau has been summoned for talks over the "unacceptable violation".
The ministry said that the missile was detected in its airspace at around 10am local time and flew over two border villages before heading toward Ukraine.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, claimed two Russian Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea had also flown through the airspace of NATO member Romania before entering Ukraine.
This led to Mr Zelenskyy saying the missiles were a challenge to the NATO military alliance and to collective security.
"This is terror that can and must be stopped," he said in a video on Telegram messaging app.
Romania's defence ministry said a Russian missile launched off a ship near Crimea crossed into Moldovan airspace before hitting Ukraine, but said it did not enter Romanian airspace.
"The Romanian Air Force's surveillance system detected on Friday an air target, most likely a cruise missile launched from a Russian ship in the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula," the ministry said in a statement.
"The closest the target trajectory got to Romania's airspace was recorded by the radar at roughly 35 kms north-east of the border."
Ukraine could have shot down the missiles but did not do so because it did not want to endanger civilians in foreign countries, the Ukrainian air force spokesperson said, while Russia has not commented on the strikes.
Explosions rock Kyiv and Ukraine's east
At least three explosions shook Kyiv and the surrounding region, with officials saying air defence systems were in operation in the capital and in other parts of the country.
Missile debris damaged a private house, two cars and electricity networks in the Holosiivskiy district of the capital, city authorities said.
Kyiv's mayor urged residents to remain in shelters as the air alert continued, over three hours after it began.
The mayor of eastern Ukraine's largest city, Kharkiv, confirmed an infrastructure facility there had been hit and warned of possible power outages as a result.
About 150,000 people in Kharkiv were left without electricity, officials said.
There was no immediate word of any deaths but Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said eight people had been wounded.
Critical infrastructure was also hit in Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine and the Dnipropetrovsk region in the centre of the country, regional officials said.
Air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television that Ukrainian air defences had shot down five of seven drones and five out of six Kaliber missiles launched at Ukraine.
The air force also said 35 S-300 missiles were launched in the Kharkiv and Zaporizhizhia regions. Ukraine's air defences are unable to shoot down these type of missiles.
Ukraine preparing for a new Russian offensive
Ukraine has been bracing itself for a new Russian offensive in the belief that, after months of reverses, President Vladimir Putin wants to be able to tout a battlefield success before the anniversary of the invasion he launched on February 24.
Russia's main focus has been the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk province, a region whose capture has been one of Moscow's declared priorities since the start of the war.
After months of static artillery battles that have become known to both sides as the "meat grinder", Russian forces, including the Wagner private army which has recruited tens of thousands of convicts with a promise of pardons, have finally begun to encircle the town.
Britain's Defence Ministry said Wagner forces appeared to have advanced 2 to 3 kilometres around the north of Bakhmut since Tuesday — a remarkably rapid push in a battle where front lines have barely moved for months.
It said they were now threatening the main western access road to Bakhmut, a now largely deserted town with a pre-war population of about 70,000, although Ukrainian officials said their supply lines had not been cut.
While Wagner has bolstered its numbers with prisoners, Russia's regular army is now able to deploy many of the 300,000 or more men enlisted in a forced mobilisation late last year.
Britain also said Russian forces had made some advances near Vuhledar, a strategically important Ukrainian-held bastion at the intersection of the southern and eastern fronts.
The British report said the limited Russian gains there had most likely come at a high cost in inexperienced units, including at least 30 Russian armoured vehicles abandoned in one failed assault.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
Asked on Ukrainian television if he agreed that the Russian offensive had already begun, Pavlo Krylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said on Thursday: "Yes, definitely."
Zelenskyy seeks fighter jets from allies
Ukraine has made clear it plans its own major counteroffensive in the coming months to reclaim more of the roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory that Russia occupies.
But it appears likely to wait until it has received at least some of the main battle tanks and longer-range missiles that the United States, Germany and other NATO allies have promised.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday night met Polish President Andrzej Duda to brief him about his tour to London, Paris and Brussels to ask for more weaponry, notably fighter planes.
None of the leaders he met gave any public undertaking that they were ready to offer the jets, a step certain to be seen in Moscow as further evidence of direct Western involvement in the war.
Britain promised to help train Ukrainian pilots to fly NATO jets but stopped short of offering to provide them.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out sending combat aircraft to Ukraine at some point but that, in the short term, artillery would be of more use to Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that he had, however, received some form of commitment on planes.
"Europe will be with us until our victory. I've heard it from a number of European leaders … about the readiness to give us the necessary weapons and support, including the aircraft," he told a news conference after attending a European Union summit in Brussels.
Reuters