Russia and Ukraine exchanged missile and drone attacks during the past night, targeting vital facilities and infrastructure in both countries, in a new escalation ahead of anticipated three-way talks mediated by the United States.
Reuters quoted the Russian Ministry of Defence as saying its forces targeted three cargo ships in the Black Sea carrying weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, as well as two electrical substations in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions, which it said supplied power to Ukrainian defence industry facilities.
Following the strikes, Ukrainian energy company DTEK announced that its main facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region suffered damage, causing power outages for more than 600,000 people. Kharkiv region authorities also reported power cuts for approximately 250,000 subscribers after a Russian drone targeted a vital infrastructure facility, with repair work ongoing and no set date for restoring supplies.
Ukrainian drones target Leningrad region
In response, Russian Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko announced via his Telegram channel that 113 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the region during the night. He noted an injury in an industrial area in the city of Kirovsk, and shrapnel hitting a residential building in the city, which necessitated the evacuation of one family. Additionally, shrapnel fell on the roof of a residential building in Vsevolozhsk without any reported injuries.
Drozdenko had previously announced the downing of 81 drones, confirming that counter-attack operations were ongoing. Reuters quoted him as stating that damage occurred in an industrial area in Kirovsk.
Escalation ahead of Abu Dhabi talks
The exchange of strikes comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of intensifying attacks on energy facilities and infrastructure to increase pressure on Moscow ahead of the three-way talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, mediated by the United States.
Agence France-Presse quoted Zelenskyy as saying that Russian attacks caused widespread power outages in several Ukrainian regions, noting that heating was cut off from 140 residential buildings in the Zhytomyr region as temperatures approached zero.
Since the war erupted in February 2022, the scope of the confrontation between Moscow and Kyiv has expanded to include long-range missile and drone attacks targeting energy facilities, ports, industrial facilities, and transport networks. The electricity and heating sectors have become among the most affected by the repercussions of military operations.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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