Russia fired “around 100 missiles” at cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, according to Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force command.
At least a dozen cities and districts were targeted, according to a CNN analysis of the missile strikes. The wave of strikes appears to be the largest since Oct. 10, when Russia stepped up its campaign to destroy electricity, water and gas infrastructure across Ukraine.
Herman Halushchenko, Ukrainian Energy Minister, confirmed that most of the targets Tuesday were energy facilities.
“This attack may have an impact not only on the energy system of Ukraine, but also on the energy systems of some of our neighbors,” he said on Facebook.
“The hits are occurring throughout the Ukrainian power system: both at generation facilities and at the power transmission system,” Halushchenko said.
“After defeats in the military and international arenas, the enemy makes another attempt of terrorist revenge and tries to inflict maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter.”
State power supplier Ukrenergo said the Russians were “trying to turn off the lights in the country again. The attack is still ongoing, we cannot yet estimate the full extent of the damage, there are strikes on our infrastructure in all regions of the country, but the most difficult situation is in the northern and central regions.”
Ukrenergo confirmed that in the city of Kyiv, special emergency shutdown schedules had been introduced.
The Kyiv city military administration reports that one person was killed in a missile strike that had “hit a residential building in Pecherskyi residential district.”
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that “in one of the hit buildings, rescuers found one body.”
Rescue and search operations continue, he said.
