BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Russian drone attacks overnight temporarily cut electricity to the entire southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine and left more than 600,000 households without power in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, underscoring the continued vulnerability of the country’s energy infrastructure nearly four years into the war.
The strikes unfolded as the United States and its allies pressed ahead with diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict, even as Moscow has offered no public indication that it is prepared to compromise or scale back its military campaign. Ukrainian authorities said the latest bombardment once again targeted civilian infrastructure rather than military assets, deepening hardships for millions of residents during the winter months.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized the attacks, accusing Russia of deliberately striking public services in a nighttime assault designed to inflict suffering on civilians. In a social media post, he said there was no military justification for targeting energy facilities and infrastructure in a way that leaves people without electricity and heating during cold weather.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s power grid since the start of the invasion, a strategy Ukrainian officials describe as an attempt to “weaponize winter” by depriving civilians of basic services such as heat, electricity, and running water. The Zaporizhzhia region, which had a prewar population of about 1.5 million people, experienced a complete power outage lasting roughly four hours, marking the first time the entire region has been left without electricity since the invasion began.
Emergency crews were able to restore power in Zaporizhzhia by Thursday morning, but conditions remained more severe in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk. The private energy company DTEK said that hundreds of thousands of customers there were still without electricity well into Thursday afternoon as repair work continued under difficult conditions.
Zelenskyy urged Ukraine’s international partners to respond more forcefully to what he described as Russia’s continued abuse of civilians, calling for increased pressure on Moscow to halt its attacks. Later Thursday, he warned that Ukrainian authorities had information suggesting another large-scale Russian strike could take place overnight. He called on citizens to remain alert, heed air-raid warnings in the coming days, and seek shelter when alarms sound.
The latest attacks came amid renewed discussion of diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the war. Zelenskyy said an agreement under which the United States would provide long-term security guarantees to Ukraine after the conflict is “ready to be finalized,” adding that he could sign the document alongside U.S. President Donald Trump. Such guarantees, he said, would be intended to deter any future Russian aggression, but would only take effect once a peace deal is reached.
Talks are also continuing among Ukraine, the United States, and European countries over postwar reconstruction and economic development, Zelenskyy said. He added that Kyiv has already presented Washington with possible options for a peace settlement and that U.S. officials are expected to discuss those proposals with Russia.
“We are waiting to see whether the enemy is truly ready to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.
Despite the diplomatic activity, fighting on the ground continued. During the day on Thursday, Russian forces launched two ballistic missiles at the city of Kryvyi Rih, striking apartment buildings and injuring at least 10 people, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the regional military administration. One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses intercepted 66 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions, as well as over the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
As winter deepens and negotiations remain uncertain, the latest power outages highlighted the ongoing toll of the conflict on civilians, even as diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting continue alongside sustained military operations on both sides.
Original article
Comments