NATO has scrambled all its warplanes from Poland and Romania to Ukraine’s fraught borders, after Russia targeted the country’s critical infrastructure with a new onslaught of missile attacks that aim to wipe out its energy grid.
The country’s energy operator DTEK announced emergency power cuts at around 7am UK time on Sunday morning affecting the Kyiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions following overnight drone strikes.
It said shortly thereafter thermal power plants had been struck by Putin‘s latest fusillade. The level of damage was not immediately clear.
Air defences were deployed overnight to intercept drones in Kyiv as residents were urged to take cover, while missiles bound for the west of the stricken country prompted NATO to send out its warplanes to assist.
‘Due to the massive attack by the Russian Federation using cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles on objects located, among others, in western Ukraine, Polish and allied [NATO] aircraft have begun operating in our airspace,’ said a statement from the Polish operational command.
‘On-duty fighter pairs were scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems reached the highest state of readiness.
‘The steps taken are aimed at ensuring safety in areas bordering the threatened areas.’
Ukrainians have been bracing for a major attack on the hobbled power system for weeks.
A firefighter tackles a blaze in Mykolaiv following the drone strike, which killed two people overnight
Missile traces and smoke after explosions of missiles are seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 17, 2024
File image of an F-16 fighter jet
Firefighters work at the site of residential area hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Lviv region, Ukraine November 17, 2024
Officials have feared crippling damage to the grid that could cause long blackouts and build psychological pressure at a critical moment in the invasion launched in February 2022, 1000 days ago yesterday
Russia’s relentless aerial bombardment with missiles and drones has destroyed half of Ukraine’s energy production capacity, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Kyiv has implored its Western allies for help in rebuilding its energy grid – a hugely expensive undertaking – and to supply its forces with more aerial defence weapons.
With the harsh Ukrainian winter fast approaching, the country is already suffering from major energy shortfalls.
‘Another massive attack on the power system is under way. The enemy is attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine,’ Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.
Paramedics provide first aid to a man injured following a Russian drone strike in Mykolaiv this morning
Ukrainians take shelter in an underground metro station in Kyiv as Russia carried out a missile attack earlier today
A firefighter stands next to part of a missile that landed inside an apartment block in Kyiv
The scale of the damage from the attacks was not immediately clear.
Officials cut power supply to numerous city districts in what they said was a precaution to prevent a surge in case of damage.
Authorities in the Volyn region in northwestern Ukraine said energy infrastructure had sustained damage but did not elaborate.
Officials often withhold information on the state of the power system because of the war to prevent giving Russia the upper hand.
In Mykolaiv in the south, two people were killed in an overnight drone attack, the regional governor said.
Blasts shook the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and the Black Sea port of Odesa, witnesses told the Reuters news agency, while more blasts were reported in the regions of Kryvyi Rih in the south and Rivne in the west.
‘Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure,’ said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
He described the strike as Moscow’s ‘true response’ to leaders who had interacted with President Vladimir Putin, an apparent swipe at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Poland scrambled fighter jets in response to Russian attacks in western Ukraine (file picture of a Polish Air Force F-16 fighter jet)
Groups of people take cover with their children and pets in a Kyiv underground station early on Sunday during Russia’s latest onslaught
Ukrainian law enforcement officers and residents stand among debris in Mykolaiv on Sunday morning after the attacks
Scholz had placed a phone call to the Russian leader on Friday for the first time since late 2022.
NATO member Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west, said it had scrambled its air force within its airspace as a security precaution due to the Russian attack, which it said used cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones.
Poland ‘activated all available forces and resources at his disposal, the on-duty fighter pairs were scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems reached the highest state of readiness,’ the operational command of its armed forces posted on X.
In Kyiv, the roof of a residential building caught fire due to falling debris and at least two people were hurt, city officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
‘Emergency services were dispatched to the scene,’ Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Russia last conducted a major missile strike on Kyiv on Aug. 26, when officials said it fired a salvo of more than 200 drones and missiles across the country in an attack that attack killed seven people.