Russia's continued drone and missile strikes on Ukraine following its withdrawal from Kherson have injured civilians and left millions without power.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian strikes have left roughly 10 million of his citizens without power. It was also reported that at least seven people were killed by the attacks, with officials expecting the number to rise.
Russian Strikes on Ukraine
In his nightly address, Zelensky said that they were doing everything they could to normalize the supply across the country. Ukraine's air defense was able to shoot down six cruise missiles and five drones that targeted its infrastructure.
Russia pounded Ukraine on Thursday with a fresh barrage of missile strikes, hitting more energy installations and other civilian infrastructure. The attacks came less than two days after one of its heaviest bombardments yet.
Zelensky noted that the seven fatalities were killed when a missile struck their apartment block in Vilnyansk, which is near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian officials added that a gas production plant in the east and a missile factory in Dnipro were also Moscow's latest targets, as per BBC.
Ukrainian citizens who are experiencing a loss of power were located mainly in the capital, Kyiv, the western city of Vinnytsia, the port city of Odesa in the southwest, and Sumy in the northeast. Zelensky accused Russia of destroying his people's supplies of electricity and heat amid the war.
Zelensky also repeated his calls for Ukraine's partners to provide "full protection of the Ukrainian sky," arguing that doing so would encourage Russia to end the war. Meanwhile, Moscow aims to justify its recent strikes by accusing Kyiv of "unwillingness" to negotiate to end the conflict.
According to the Washington Post, the recent attacks are the latest in a continuous assault on Ukraine's energy systems that started early last month. The strikes reflected Moscow's narrowed strategic options after suffering a string of defeats on the battlefield.
Battlefield Losses
Due to the damage done to its ground troops and the loss of land in Ukraine, Russia has resumed using long-range strikes. The situation comes as Moscow is also struggling to train and equip tens of thousands of new conscripts, many of whom expressed no desire to fight in Russian President Vladimir Putin's failing war.
The attacks come as this week, most Group of 20 leaders at a summit in Bali, Indonesia, strongly condemned Russia's continued war on Ukraine. On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to shift the blame on Ukraine for the lack of electricity and heat in many parts of Ukraine.
The rising tensions came after Russia was accused of launching missile strikes that also landed on NATO member Poland, killing two. On Tuesday, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that a Russian-made rocket fell on Przewodow, near the Ukrainian border.
United States authorities said that it and its allies are already investigating the blast, but noted that earlier information suggests it may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia. President Joe Biden spoke at the G20 Summit following an emergency meeting, France24 reported.
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