Ukraine denounces attack on its energy infrastructure that leaves millions of households without electricity
Russia has stepped up its shelling of Ukraine after the UK and US gave Kiev permission to launch Western-made medium-range missiles into Russian territory.
Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the Lutsk power facility.
Early Thursday, Ukraine denounced a "massive attack" on its energy infrastructure that forced the power to be cut in several areas such as Kiev, Odessa or Dnipro.
With temperatures around zero degrees, "the energy sector is again under massive attack by the enemy," Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook.
Energy operator DTEK noted that these actions forced emergency power outages in places such as the capital Kiev or the cities of Odessa and Dnipro.
Shortly before, the Ukrainian army air force had activated a national alert after detecting the approach of missiles towards the regions of Odessa (south), Kharkov (northeast) or Kherson (east), among others.
On its side, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed during the night 25 Ukrainian drones in the border regions of Bryansk and Rostov and in the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been shelling the former Soviet republic and usually intensifies its attacks before winter, focusing especially on the power grid.
At least one million households without electricity
Serguii Kovalenko, a manager at Yasno, one of the power supply companies, said on Facebook that there had been "emergency outages across the country because of the enemy attack."
According to him, the Ukrenergo energy group expects power outages until tonight.
Maksim Kozitski, governor of the Lviv region in the west, said shortly before 10 a.m. local time that 523.000 customers were without power.
Authorities in the neighboring regions of Rivne and Volonia also reported 280,000 and 215,000 subscribers without power, respectively.
The western Ivano-Frankivsk region also experienced power outages, as did the Khmelnitsky region in central Ukraine, although no figures were given on the population affected.
In recent weeks, coinciding with the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, the conflict has escalated.
After receiving the green light from Washington, the Ukrainian military is employing the use of U.S. missiles to attack the territory of Russia, which responded by launching an experimental hypersonic missile.
On Tuesday, Moscow denounced two new Ukrainian attacks with U.S. projectiles and said it was "preparing a response."
Earlier in the day, Ukraine said it had suffered a nighttime attack by Russia with a total of 188 drones, a "record" to date.
On the front lines, Russia is also advancing in the eastern sector in the face of a weakened Ukrainian military that also fears it will receive less U.S. aid once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
On Wednesday, the outgoing administration of Joe Biden urged Kiev to lower the minimum age for military mobilization from 25 to 18 to compensate for the lack of troops.
A senior White House official said under anonymity that Ukraine faces an "existential" crisis over its dwindling volunteer force in the face of an enemy with more and better-equipped troops.
"The truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilizing and training enough soldiers to replace battlefield losses and hold out in the face of Russian forces," he said.
Putin says it is a "response" to Ukrainian missiles
Putin claimed a massive attack with 90 missiles and 100 drones, saying his forces hit 117 targets. "It is a response to continued attacks on our territory with ATACMS missiles," the Russian leader said from Kazakhstan.
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