Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Russian military has destroyed about 30 percent of Ukraine’s power plants.
Much of the damage has been done in the past week, with repeated strikes targeting energy infrastructure and causing blackouts across the country.
“Since October 10, 30 percent of Ukraine’s power plants have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter.
The Ukrainian president added that “there was no room left to negotiate [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s regime”.
Several regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, have experienced power outages after more strikes hit power facilities on Tuesday.
Energy operator DTEK announced “disruptions” in the supply of electricity and water to residents after an attack on a facility on the left bank of the city’s river.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has urged residents to save electricity “as much as possible” by not using energy-intensive appliances.
Early Tuesday, Russian missile strikes hit Ukrainian infrastructure in Kyiv and other areas, just a day after deadly Russian drone strikes hit the Ukrainian capital. On Monday, four people died in Kyiv due to a barrage of Russian so-called “suicide drone” attacks.
Meanwhile, the northern city of Zhytomyr was left without electricity and water supplies after strikes on Tuesday morning, its mayor said. In Dnipro, an energy facility was hit twice and severely damaged, an official said.
Here are the other top headlines from the October 18 Ukraine war.
Ukraine receives 2 billion euros in aid from the EU
Ukraine’s prime minister said the country has received 2 billion euros ($1.96 billion) in financial aid from the European Union.
The sum is the first tranche of a 5 billion euro ($4.91 billion) EU package allocated after Russia’s invasion.
“The additional financial resource will help cover urgent budget expenses, in particular for the social and humanitarian spheres,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine: Russia ‘kidnapped’ two nuclear plant officials
Ukraine’s state nuclear energy agency has accused Russia of “kidnapping” two of its senior employees at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday that the plant’s head of information technology, Oleh Kostyukov, and Oleh Oshek, an assistant to the plant’s director, had been detained the previous day.
“At this time, nothing is known about his whereabouts or condition,” the statement said.
Zelenskyy calls for air defense help amid drone strikes
President Zelenskyy called on the international community to provide more air defense systems amid new Russian airstrikes with so-called “suicide drones”.
“The world can and must stop this terror. When we talk about Ukraine’s need for air and missile defense, we are talking about real lives being taken by terrorists,” he said in a statement released Monday in the afternoon
“And this is not only the interest of Ukraine. The fewer terrorist opportunities Russia has, the sooner this war will end,” added Zelenskyy.
His comments came after the latest barrage of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy said Monday’s attacks were carried out mainly by Iranian-designed combat drones, also known as “kamikaze drones”.
Zelenskyy said that as of Sunday evening, Ukraine had intercepted 37 such drones and several cruise missiles.
A Russian military plane crashes into apartments near the coast of the Sea of Azov
At least 13 people have been killed after a military plane crashed into a residential building in the port city of Yeysk in the Krasnodar Krai region of southwestern Russia, a health ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the crash of the Su-34 bomber caused a fire of about 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet), state news agency RIA reported.
Hours after the crash, Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said emergency services had managed to put out the fire.
Yeysk is located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, near the country’s border with Ukraine, and is home to about 90,000 people, along with a Russian air base.
Catch up on DW’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
NATO has launched its annual series of nuclear readiness exercises following veiled threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he might consider a nuclear option following military setbacks in Ukraine.
Suicide drones are said to have been used to attack Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Tehran has denied supplying the equipment to Moscow. What do we know about drone imports?
dvv/rs (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
Kyiv hit by wave of deadly drone strikes
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