Russia targets Kyiv power supply as freezing winter approaches

Russia hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure in a wave of deadly drone and missile strikes on Wednesday, prompting an urgent call for contingencies as freezing winter approaches.

Kyiv said it was the opening attack in Russia's inevitable campaign to try to knock out heating and electricity supplies in the capital ahead of winter -- a tactic Moscow has deployed throughout the four-and-a-half-year war.

At least four people were killed in and around Kyiv, including a young child found under the rubble of a demolished residential building, after another night of continuous air raid red alerts and repeated blasts.

Sirens screamed across the city warning people to take cover in basement shelters and metro stations from ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as high-speed attack drones in the skies above.

In Moscow, Russia's defence ministry said it had conducted "a massive missile and drone strike" on Kyiv and the surrounding region that targeted the power infrastructure.

Ukraine's main energy provider DTEK confirmed that the grid was damaged and supplies were affected to 8,000 households. Engineers got the power back on, it said, but called it "another difficult night for the capital".

Ensuring energy supply in Ukraine is critical as months of bitter cold approach.

Russian strikes on the sector last year cut light and heating as temperatures plunged to as low as -20C.

The prospect of a repeat has left many in the city considering whether to stay, and calls for the vulnerable and disabled to relocate.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said water supplies had also been cut and "critical infrastructure" was also hit in attacks across the country.

Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky indicated that the attacks were the start of a new Russian winter campaign against the energy sector.

"Since the summer, there has practically not been a single day when the enemy has not attacked our energy infrastructure," he wrote on Telegram.

"However, such a large-scale combined attack has taken place for the first time since the end of the last heating season."

- Back-up power -

An assessment was being made about the extent of the damage, with Ukraine's energy system already battered by previous attacks since the start of the war in February 2022.

"Local authorities must check the readiness of back-up power systems for critical facilities in communities and complete all work on their installation and connection as quickly as possible," Koretsky said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2024 issued arrest warrants for Russia's then military leaders over attacks on Ukraine's energy grid, saying they constituted a war crime that was causing "excessive harm" to civilians.

Wednesday's strikes hit residential buildings and businesses, sparking fires and widespread damage to property and cars, the authorities said.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a driver at a local utility firm was killed when a warehouse was hit, while two others were killed elsewhere.

The emergency services said a child was found dead under the rubble of a residential building that was destroyed in the wider Kyiv region.

Russia has been deploying newer jet-powered drones that move faster and are harder to intercept than the traditional models, which are based on Iranian Shaheds.

Zelensky has repeatedly appealed to Ukraine's allies for more military support, including US-made interceptors to combat Russia's powerful ballistic missiles.

"Every interceptor missile truly saves lives," he wrote on X on Wednesday. "And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need.

"We must do everything to ensure that Russia's bet on ballistic missile and drone terror does not pay off."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said he was "alarmed" by the scale of the escalating daily attacks in Ukraine and mounting civilian casualties on both sides.

After talks between Germany's foreign minister and his Russian counterpart at the United Nations on Saturday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia was "not interested" in meaningful talks to end the conflict.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had told the UN that Russia would achieve its military aims in Ukraine "no matter the circumstances".

burs-phz/jc/db