Russia has confirmed attacks on infrastructure for the second day in a row and says all targets were hit
FILE PHOTO. A Ukrainian flag flies om Lvov after Russian attacks. © Pavlo Palamarchuk / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
New missile strikes targeting Ukrainian military command and control sites and the country’s energy infrastructure were conducted on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported during a daily briefing.
The attacks hit all intended targets and “achieved their goals,” the military claimed.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian officials and media reported more Russian long-range attacks in a rerun of Monday’s strikes.
Andrey Sadovoy, the mayor of the city of Lvov in western Ukraine, said his city faced another blackout due to the damage inflicted by Russia.
“A missile strike at a critical infrastructure object” had left some 30% of Lvov without power, the official reported on social media. He added that there were issues with the water supply in the city and urged residents to stockpile for possible cuts.
In Vinnitsa Region in central Ukraine, the head of the administration, Sergey Borzov, reported drone attacks on a local power station, but later edited his post to a more neutral report of “explosions” in his region. The operator of the Ladyzhin coal-fired power plant confirmed damage to its equipment in a drone raid on Tuesday morning.
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Reports of Russian missiles being engaged by Ukrainian air defenses came from the regions of Kiev, Odessa, and Vinnitsa. In the Rovno and Krivoy Rog regions, people on social media reported blasts on the ground, presumably caused by Russian strikes.
The barrages came a day after almost all major regions of Ukraine came under a massive aerial assault. The Ukrainian military claimed to have intercepted roughly half of the missiles, but nevertheless 11 key sites all across the country were damaged, according to the Ukrainian government.
Moscow targeted Ukrainian power plants and other critical facilities after what Russian President Vladimir Putin called a series of “terrorist attacks” orchestrated by Ukrainian special services on Russian soil.
The latest of them involved blowing up a truck laden with explosives on the Crimean Bridge, a strategic Russian link. Russian investigators reported on Saturday that at least three civilians were killed by the blast, but the number may be as high as six, given that three people are reportedly still missing, according to the Telegram-based news outlet 112.
Putin said Kiev’s tactics could not be left without a response and argued that Kiev had exposed its energy sector to Russian strikes by trying for months to sabotage key Russian infrastructure.
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Kiev’s foreign backers condemned Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, in contrast to the muted reaction to the incident on the Russian bridge. The White House on Sunday declined to comment on the bridge blast and pledged continued military support of Ukraine.
