The targeted facilities supported Kiev’s defense industrial complex, the Defense Ministry has said
FILE PHOTO. © Sputnik / Evgeny Biyatov
The Russian military has launched a wave of strikes on Ukraine’s gas energy infrastructure, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that the group strike was carried out overnight and targeted facilities supporting operations of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. “The objective of the strike has been met. All designated targets have been hit,” officials said, without providing enumerating the facilities affected or listing the forces involved in the attack.
Ukrainian officials have confirmed strikes in several regions while reporting blackouts, specifying damage to energy infrastructure in Poltava Region, and the Ukraine-controlled part of Zaporozhye Region.
Leader Vladimir Zelensky also said that there had been damage in Odessa, Sumy, Kharkov, Khmelnytsky, and Kiev Regions, and that the attack involved missiles, strike drones, and aerial bombs. He said that three people had been killed in Poltava, two in Sumy, and one in Kharkov, with many injured.
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Russia has for months been conducting strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure supporting the country’s defense industrial production, as well as other military-linked facilities, while insisting that the attacks never target civilians. Moscow has also said that the raids are in retaliation for Kiev’s strikes on Russian residential buildings across the country, as well its oil processing facilities.