Russia launched a mass wave of deadly overnight attacks on Ukraine, using over 90 missiles and 60 Iranian-designed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in one of the largest such attacks in recent months.
"The world sees the targets of Russian terrorists as clearly as possible: power plants and energy supply lines, a hydroelectric dam, ordinary residential buildings, even a trolleybus," Zelensky said.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry said the strikes killed at least two people and injured 14 while three were reported missing.
"All of our services are now involved in responding to the aftermath of the attack. We're use robotic equipment in dangerous areas to minimize injuries to rescuers," the ministry said.
Zelensky once again appealed for more Western arms.
"Russian missiles do not have delays, as do aid packages to our country. The 'Shahed' [Iranian-designed drones] have no indecision, like some politicians. It is important to understand the cost of delays and postponed decisions," he said.
"We need air defense to protect people, infrastructure, homes and dams. Our partners know exactly what is needed," Zelensky continued.
One of the strikes on Friday severed one of two power lines supplying Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine.
"The enemy is now carrying out the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy system in recent times," Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook, adding that shelling had knocked out "one of the power transmission lines feeding" the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
The facility was seized by Russian troops in the first days of the war but is still powered by Ukrainian lines.
'Extremely dangerous situation'
"This situation is extremely dangerous and risks sparking an emergency situation," Ukraine's atomic energy operator Energoatom said following the attack.
If the final power line were to be cut, it said the plant would be "on the verge of another blackout, which is a serious violation of the conditions of safe operation of the plant."
Since the beginning of the war, the Zaporizhzhia power plant has suffered multiple blackouts, falling back on emergency diesel generators and safety systems.
According to the Zaporizhzhia regional governor, 12 Russian missiles hit the region early Friday, destroying several houses and injuring an unknown number of people.
"According to initial reports, seven houses were destroyed, 35 were damaged," Ivan Fedorov wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, which has been under Russian control since spring 2022, said that a Russian missile had struck a trolleybus at the Dnipro hydroelectric station, also located in Zaporizhzhia, killing civilians traveling on it.
Oleksandr Symchyshyn, mayor of the western city of Khmelnytskyi, described "a horrible morning" with damage to infrastructure and residential buildings.
"There are victims and casualties among civilians," he wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry said two people were killed and eight others were injured in the region.
Energy facilities were targeted by Russian missile, drone, and artillery strikes in multiple cities across Ukraine on Friday, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi,and Kryvyi Rig.
"The goal is not just to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country's energy system," said Energy Minister Galushchenko.
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