KYIV: Local officials report at least nineteen people were injured when Russia hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with a massive drone and missile attack on Saturday. According to Ukrainian military reports, out of the 53 missiles fired across the country overnight on June 1, only 35 reached their targets, while as many as 46 unmanned aerial vehicles from a total of 47 were downed.
There is no official information about victims yet: according to preliminary data, at least twelve people were injured in different regions of Ukraine, including Lviv region in western Ukraine and Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine.
They hospitalised twelve persons – among whom there are eight children – after an air attack near two houses where they had been hiding in the Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
These attacks were part of a series, which has been going on since March, by Russia against Ukraine’s power grid.
Two plants belonging to Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK suffered significant damage during what the firm described as its sixth assault on such facilities within two and half months.
Moreover, Herman Halushchenko, Minister for Energy of Ukraine stated via his social media accounts that infrastructure facilities related to energy supply systems located in Zaporizhzhia Region, Dnipropetrovsk Region, Donetsk Region, Kirovohrad Oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast have also come under fire.
However it may be worse if air defence is not improved to deal with this surge demand and repair needs henceforth in late summer and freezing winter period.
As a result of these strikes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has again called for more anti-aircraft systems from Western countries. On X (formerly Twitter) he added “…Civilians! Infrastructure! Power Facilities! With this does #Russia keeps fighting!”
“Our partners know exactly what is needed for this. Additional Patriot and other modern air defence systems for Ukraine. Accelerating and expanding the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine. Providing our warriors with all the necessary capabilities.”
Elsewhere, there were five civilian deaths by Ukrainian shelling in Russia-controlled Donetsk region, according to Denis Pushilin, its leader appointed by Moscow. Another three people were injured, he said.
In addition, Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Saturday morning that it had destroyed two Ukrainian drones above Belgorod area of Russia. No killed or injured have been reported yet.
