Explosions from the latest major barrage of Russian air strikes knocked out utilities in Kyiv and scores of other Ukrainian cities on Friday, increasing officials’ pleas for more western air defence systems to protect critical infrastructure.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration, said that “due to strikes on power plants in several regions of Ukraine, emergency power outages are being imposed throughout the country”, adding that the situation had also triggered interruptions to water and heating supplies.
Mykhailo Shymanov, a spokesperson for Kyiv’s military-civilian administration, said on state television that the barrage amounted to one of the “biggest attacks since the beginning of the full-scale war” launched by Russia in February.