Live: Russia hits Ukraine power grid and gains ground in eastern Ukraine

Issued on: 11/02/2023 – 08:07

7:55am: Attacks reported across Ukraine

Ukraine’s armed forces said in an evening update that Russian forces fired more than 100 missiles throughout the country and staged 12 air and 20 shelling attacks. The Facebook post said 61 cruise missiles were destroyed. Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Russia had hit power facilities in six regions with missiles and drones, causing blackouts across most of Ukraine.

After humiliating defeats on the ground, Russia has in recent months targeted Ukraine’s energy facilities, leading to power shortages that have left millions in the cold and dark.

Ukraine’s energy operator Ukrenergo said “power plants and high voltage network facilities” had been affected in the east, west and south, with the “most difficult situation” in the region of Kharkiv, near the border with Russia.

The country temporarily lost 44 percent of its nuclear generation and 75 percent of the capacity of thermal power plants, Shmyhal said.

The electrical grid instability caused by the shelling also led to the shutting down of one of the reactor units at Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)