RUSSIA battered much of Ukraine on Monday, firing scores of missiles and drones that killedfourpeople, injured more than a dozen and damagedenergyfacilitiesinattacks that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as “vile.” Thebarrageof over 100missiles and a similar number of dronesbeganaroundmidnight and continued through daybreak in what appeared to be Russia’s biggest onslaught in weeks. Ukraine’s air force said swarmsofRussiandronesfired ateastern,northern,southern, and central regions were followed by volleys of cruise and ballistic missiles. “Like most previous Russian strikes, this one was just as vile, targeting criticalcivilianinfrastructure,” Zelenskyy said, adding that most of the country was targeted-fromtheKharkivregion andKyivtoOdesaandthewest. Explosionswereheardinthe capitalofKyiv.Powerandwater supplies in the city were disrupted by the attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russia fired drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic ballistic Kinzhal missiles at 15 Ukrainianregions—morethan half the country.

 

“The energy infrastructure hasonceagainbecomethetarget of Russian terrorists,” Shmyhal said, adding that the state-owned power grid operator, Ukrenergo, has been forced to implement emergency power cuts to stabilise the system. He urged Ukraine’s allies to provide it with long-range weapons and permission to use them on targets inside Russia.“Inordertostopthebarbaric shelling of Ukrainian cities, it is necessary to destroy the place from which the Russianmissilesarelaunched,” Shmyhalsaid.“Wecountonthe support of our allies and will definitely make Russia pay.” USPresidentJoeBidencalled the Russian attack on energy infrastructure “outrageous” andsaidhehad“re-prioritised US Air defence exports so they are sent to Ukraine first.” He also said the US was “surging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid.”

 

The Russian Defence Ministry said the attacks used “long-range precisionair- and sea-based weapons and strike drones against critical energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. All designated targets were hit.” At least four people were killed - one in the western city of Lutsk, one in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, one in Zhytomyrinthecountry’scentre, and one in the partiallyoccupied Zaporizhzhia regionin the southeast, local officialssaid. Thirteen others werewounded - one in the Kyivregionthat surrounds the capital, five in Lutsk, three in thesouthern Mykolaiv region andfourintheneighbouringOdesaregion. Blackouts and damage tocivilianinfrastructure andresidential buildingswerereported from the region of Sumy inthe east, to the Mykolaiv andOdesa regions in the south, tothe regionofRivne inthewest. In Sumy local administration said that 194 settlementslostpower,while19othershada partial blackout.