Volodymyr Zelensky blamed “Russian terrorists” for the “total blackout in the Kharkiv region”. (file)
Kyiv:
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia was responsible for power cuts across eastern Ukraine, accusing Moscow of deliberately affecting civilian infrastructure.
Zelensky blamed “Russian terrorists” for “a total blackout in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, partly one in the Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions”.
“No military facility,” he said in a statement on social media. “The goal is to deprive people of light and heat.”
Blackout-affected areas with an estimated combined population of nine million people – including areas controlled by Russia.
They came as Ukrainian forces claimed to have recaptured dozens of towns and villages in eastern Ukraine.
Authorities in the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions said soon after the power cut was announced that power had been restored.
Russian attacks were also disrupting railways, with national train service announcing delays throughout the east, including Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city.
Mykhailo Podolik, a senior aide to the Ukrainian president, said the affected facilities included the Kharkiv CHPP-5 power station.
Footage distributed by Kyrylo Tymoshenko in the Ukrainian presidential administration from an attack in Kharkiv showed a fire at an industrial site, with emergency services at the scene.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said the Russian strikes were “an act of desperation after Russia’s heavy losses and retreat in eastern Ukraine”.
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