C T Online Desk: Ukraine suffered sweeping blackouts and water supplies were cut to large parts of Kyiv on Monday after another wave of Russian missile strikes on key infrastructure.
The Ukrainian army said “more than 50” cruise missiles were launched at targets across the country, days after Russia blamed Ukraine for drone attacks on its fleet in the Black Sea.
The army said many missiles were shot down by air defences but Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said the barrage had caused power cuts in “hundreds” of areas across seven Ukrainian regions.
Several blasts were heard in the capital Kyiv.
After the strikes, “80 percent of consumers” were without water in the capital, the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, while “350,000 homes” were left without electricity.
Later on Monday, the respective figures had fallen to 40 percent and “270,000” homes, according to the mayor.
In the west of Kyiv, an AFP journalist saw more than 100 people with empty plastic bottles and containers waiting to collect water from a park fountain.
“Russian terrorists have again launched a massive attack against electricity installations,” said the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter: “Instead of fighting on the battlefield, Russia fights civilians.”
Ukraine’s battered energy infrastructure would be repaired with equipment from 12 countries, Kuleba said in a separate statement.
“The first batches of aid are already in Ukraine, the rest are expected in the near future,” he said.
The Russian army confirmed it had carried out cruise missile strikes and said they had all reached their intended targets.
