Russian strikes destroy 30 per cent power stations in Ukraine

Firefighters at work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv Monday. Pic/AP

Russian missiles crashed into infrastructure targets across Ukraine on Tuesday morning as Moscow stepped up what looked like a deliberate campaign to destroy electricity and water facilities before winter.

The mayor of Zhytomyr, a city of 2,63,000 people, said the attacks had knocked out the power and water supply, and two explosions rocked an energy facility in Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million, causing serious damage, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a Ukrainian presidential aide.

Also Read: Russia captures villages in east

In Mykolaiv, a missile slammed into an apartment building killing at least one man, and blasts were heard and smoke seen rising in Kyiv, the capital. There were also reports of power facilities being targeted in the city of Kharkiv, a city with a pre-war population of 1.43 million people, close to the Russian border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of terrorising and killing civilians with the air attacks, which came a day after drone strikes on Kyiv and other cities killed at least four people. "Ukraine is under fire by the occupiers. They continue to do what they do best - terrorise and kill civilians," Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "The terrorist state will not change anything for itself with such actions. It will only confirm its destructive and murderous essence, for which it will certainly be held to account." Russian air strikes have destroyed 30% of Ukraine's power stations since Oct. 10, Zelensky said on Tuesday. There was no immediate word on how many people had been killed in the strikes. Russia said on Tuesday that four Ukrainian regions whose annexation it proclaimed last month are under protection of its nuclear arsenal.

218
No. of detainees exchanged in a prisoners' exchange

‘Take more prisoners'

Zelensky on Monday urged his troops to take more prisoners, saying this would make it easier to secure release of soldiers held by Russia. Zelensky made his remarks hours after the two sides carried out one of the biggest prisoner swaps so far, exchanging a total of 218 detainees, including 108 Ukrainian women.

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