Ukrainian air defense shot down all of the 13 Shahed-type attack drones and 12 of the 16 missiles launched by Russia overnight on June 22, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said. Energy infrastructure was damaged in several regions.
Since spring, Russia has intensified its attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure in a renewed assault against the country's energy grid, leading to blackouts. The overnight attack was the eighth such massive strike in recent months.
Russia launched the drones from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, and occupied Balaklava in Crimea, while 10 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles were fired from Tu-95 bomber planes over Russia's Saratov Oblast, according to Oleshchuk.
Moscow's troops also launched four Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, as well as two Iskander-K cruise missiles from occupied Crimea.
Ukraine intercepted 25 aerial targets, including seven Kh-101/Kh-555, four Kalibr missiles and one Iskander-K, the commander said.
The energy infrastructure in Ukraine's south and west has suffered in the attack. Russia struck facilities in Lviv and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo reported. Two energy workers reportedly suffered injuries in the latter one.
In the western Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Russia hit an educational institution, causing a fire, according to State Emergency Service.
Earlier this week on June 20, Russian drone attacks damaged energy infrastructure in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk oblasts.
Ukraine began implementing rolling blackouts on May 15, but they have dramatically increased in the following days, and the May 31 Russian mass-missile attack caused further damage across the country.
In a "worst-case" scenario in which Ukraine is unable to repair damaged energy facilities and prevent future attacks, Ukrainians could experience up to 20 hours of blackouts a day, Dmytro Sakharuk, executive director of Ukraine's largest privately-owned energy company DTEK, told the Kyiv Independent in an interview on June 9.
Liliane Bivings
