Russia attacks Ukrainian energy facilities

Russia targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in a new wave of airstrikes, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday, despite a UN monitoring body saying attacks on the power grid probably violated humanitarian law.

Regional officials said civilian infrastructure had also been damaged, and the International Energy Agency warned of an electricity shortfall in Ukraine this winter.

Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles launched by Russia in the latest attacks in more than 2-1/2 years of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Three people were killed in shelling near Krasnopillia in the Sumy region on Wednesday evening and two were wounded in daytime shelling of the frontline region on Thursday that damaged a medical institution, local prosecutors said.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said power cuts had been introduced in 10 regions, and the IEA said in a report that Ukraine’s electricity supply shortfall in the critical winter months could reach about a third of expected peak demand.

In a sign of its concern, the European Union said a fuel power plant was being dismantled in Lithuania to be rebuilt in Ukraine, and that electricity exports would also be increased.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Russia’s strikes on the energy grid posed risks to the water supply, sewage and sanitation, provision of heating and hot water, public health, education and the wider economy.

Kyiv says the targeting of its energy system is a war crime, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for four Russian officials and military officers for the bombing of civilian power infrastructure.

Moscow says power infrastructure is a legitimate military target and has dismissed the charges against its officials as irrelevant.

‘Moscow ramping up drone production’

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was ramping up drone production by around 10 times to nearly 1.4 million this year in a bid to ensure the Russian armed forces win in Ukraine. Since Russia sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine in February 2022, the war has largely been a story of grinding artillery and drone strikes.