In a recent development, Russia has launched a new wave of missiles and drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, causing damage to energy facilities in the country's southeast and west. This marks the eighth major attack on Ukrainian power plants by Moscow in the past three months, as they intensified their assault on energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired a total of 16 missiles and 13 Shahed drones at energy facilities and critical infrastructure. Fortunately, Ukraine's air defenses were able to intercept 12 of the 16 missiles and all 13 drones launched by Russia.
State-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo confirmed that the strikes resulted in damage to equipment at facilities in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and western Lviv region. Two energy workers were injured in the Zaporizhzhia region due to a fire that broke out at an energy facility.
Despite no significant changes along the 1,000-kilometer front line, both sides continue to target infrastructure in an attempt to weaken each other's ability to fight in the ongoing conflict, now in its third year. Following Russia's attack on Zaporizhzhia and Lviv, Ukrainian military strikes targeted three oil refineries in southern Russia overnight into Friday.
As a result of relentless Russian attacks, Ukraine is facing challenges with a new wave of rolling blackouts, with half of the country's power generation capacity being affected. In other developments, the governor of eastern Ukraine's partly occupied Donetsk region reported that Russian attacks claimed the lives of five individuals and injured seven others the previous day.
Additionally, a policeman lost his life in the partly occupied region of Kherson due to a Russian drone attack on a checkpoint, as confirmed by the Ukrainian National Police. Meanwhile, in Russia, air defense systems successfully destroyed five drones over the Sea of Azov and the country's western Bryansk and Smolensk regions, as stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
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