Nato has scrambled its war planes after Russia launched a massive aerial bombardment close to Ukraine’s border with Poland.
Vladimir Putin’s Tu-22 and Tu-95 strategic bombers pounded critical infrastructure facilities in the Drohobych and Stryi districts in the latest airstrike on the country’s hobbled energy grid. No casualties were reported.
The proximity of the strikes to Poland, which is part of Nato, forced the military alliance into a state of high alert.
“Duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” said a statement from the operational command headquarters.
“The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.”
The state energy company Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kirovohrad regions.
Kyiv also came under attack, with hundreds of residents taking shelter in underground metro stations across the capital, sleeping on yoga mats and sitting on folded chairs with their pets.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed that its troops had conducted strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said that his army’s air defence had downed at least 30 out of 40 Russian missiles.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine’s national grid operator introduced emergency power cuts in six regions amid warnings from Kyiv’s air force of missiles launched by Russia during a nationwide air-raid alert.
Separately, Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said on social media that “preventative measures” involving the distribution system were also in force.
Russia has carried out regular air strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid as its ground forces press ahead on the battlefield in the Kremlin’s three-year-old invasion.
Ukrainians use natural gas mainly for heating homes and cooking. The country uses gas stored over the summer months to use in winter, when daily production does not cover consumption.
