Overnight Russian Strike on Ukraine Triggers Heating, Water Cuts
An overnight Russian drone and missile attack that targeted critical infrastructure, including energy sites and railways, triggered heating and water outages for thousands of Ukrainian households, Kyiv said on Saturday.
The latest wave of aerial strikes comes as Ukrainian negotiators are set to meet in Florida with American envoys for a third straight day of talks on a plan to end the almost four-year war.
Overnight, Russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles at Ukraine, Kyiv's air force said on Saturday.
“The main targets of these strikes, once again, were energy facilities. Russia's aim is to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
A Russian drone strike hit and “burned down the main railway station building in Fastiv,” a city around 70 kilometres (43 miles) southwest of Kyiv, Zelensky said.
“There were no casualties, but suburban train traffic has been disrupted,” Ukraine's state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsya added.
The drones and missiles also targeted energy facilities in the Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Kyiv said.
“In the Odesa region, 9,500 households remain without heat supply and 34,000 households remain without water supply due to damage,” Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.
An emergency coordination meeting of ministers was convened in the wake of the strikes, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X.
“During the ongoing elimination of the consequences of this attack, additional rolling power outages will be required across the country” to stabilize the system while repairs continued, she added.
Despite the U.S.-led push to end the conflict, Russia has routinely targeted Ukraine's power and heating grid since its February 2022 full-scale invasion began, destroying key civilian infrastructure.
