Russia fires huge missile, drone salvo at Ukraine’s power grid

KYIV: Russia launched about 200 missiles and drones at Ukraine on Monday, killing five people and striking energy facilities nationwide, Kyiv said, while neighbouring NATO member Poland reported a drone had probably entered its airspace.

Power cuts and water supply outages were reported in many areas, including parts of Kyiv, as officials said the attack - 2-1/2 years into Russia’s full-scale invasion - targeted power or other critical infrastructure in at least 10 regions.

Russia dramatically stepped up its strikes on the Ukrainian power grid in March in what Kyiv has said looked like a concerted effort to degrade the system ahead of next winter when people need electricity and heating most.

Monday’s missile and drone salvo was Russia’s most intense in weeks, coming as Ukraine is claiming new ground in a major cross-border incursion into Russia’s southern Kursk region while Russian forces steadily inch forward in Ukraine’s east, closing in on the transport hub of Pokrovsk.

“It was one of the biggest combined strikes. More than a hundred missiles of various types and about a hundred Shahed drones. And like most previous Russian strikes, this one is just as sneaky, targeting critical civilian infrastructure,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

Poland said an “object” had entered its airspace, that it may have landed on Polish territory and that searches were underway.

“Most likely it was a drone and we assume so, because the trajectory of the flight and the speed indicate that it was definitely not a missile,” Jacek Goryszewski, spokesperson for the Polish army’s operational command, told Reuters.

According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, 15 Ukrainian regions sustained damage from the missile and drone barrage. Zelenskiy said the energy sector had suffered “a lot of damage”.

Top Kyiv officials urged its Western allies and arms suppliers to allow long-range strikes into Russia. Zelenskiy also redoubled his call on allies such as Poland to join Ukraine in shooting down missiles and drones over Ukrainian airspace.

Ukraine had no powerful long-range weapons at the start of the invasion, but has since developed many models of long-range attack drone and used them to hit targets deep inside Russia, ranging from oil refineries to military airfields.

Over the weekend, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had developed a new “drone missile” that had been used to attack Russia and was more powerful and faster than other hardware in Kyiv’s arsenal.