Explosions heard in Kyiv amid Russian missile attack
Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv around 5:30 p.m. local time on Feb. 8 amid a ballistic missile threat, Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported.
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko confirmed the attack, saying that Ukraine’s air defense was working to intercept the missiles.
Immediately after the attack power went out in at least one district in Kyiv ahead of schedule.
The attack comes amid Russia's ongoing drone and missile campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which has severely damaged the country's energy grid and forced it to impose lengthy blackouts amid freezing temperatures.
Earlier on Feb. 8, Ukrenergo, the state-grid operator, said that Ukraine’s energy system remains under severe strain, with nuclear plants partially disconnected from the power grid following Russia's mass attack on Ukraine's critical infrastructure overnight on Feb. 7.
One of the worst situations is in Kyiv, where residents have received just one-and-a-half to two hours of power per day for several days. The Feb. 7 attack came ahead of another cold snap in Kyiv, with temperatures expected to drop to –19 degrees Celsius (–2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days, further straining the energy system.
