Ukraine: Russian strike leaves 100,000 without power
July 6, 2024
Some 100,000 people were left without power after a Russian drone strike hit an energy facility in the northeastern Sumy region, Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed its forces had captured a village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
What do we know about the strikes?
National grid operator Ukrenergo said the energy facility in the region was damaged, forcing blackouts in the regional capital, called Sumy.
A Russian strike also hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off the water supply.
Repair teams were working to restore supplies. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Ukraine's air force said it downed 24 of 27 Russian drones fired on 12 regions.
Russian state agency RIA cited a local pro-Kremlin leader as saying that Russia's forces hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city of Sumy. The report could not be independently verified.
Since March, Russian forces have stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, making it increasingly harder for Ukraine to to provide power to the country. As a result, Ukrenergo has planned several blackouts as electricity imports could not cover the deficit.
Russia takes Donetsk village
Also on Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Sokil in the eastern Donetsk region.
The settlement lies some 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the regional capital of Donetsk, which has been controlled by pro-Russian separatist forces since 2014.
Ukrainian authorities have said that the fiercest fighting in the war is taking place in the Donetsk region.
Russia claimed to have annexed the entirety of the Donetsk region in September 2022, alongside three other regions, but does not control it in full. Of the four regions, only Luhansk is largely under Russian control.
The referendums that preceded Russia's claimed annexation of the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were deemed illegal by a UN General Assembly resolution and have been condemned by several countries and rights groups.
sdi/rm (AP, Reuters, AFP)