A rescuer walks past a church destroyed by a Russian air strike, (Photo: Reuters).
Overnight Russian drone and missile attacks on the power grid and areas around Kyiv left seven people dead, officials said on Wednesday.
The assault caused power cuts and raised questions over whether it signalled the start of Russia’s expected cold-weather offensive, which Ukrainian officials characterise as an attempt to “weaponise winter”, according to the AP. Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said on Telegram that Russia had struck energy infrastructure on virtually every day since the summer. However, he said an attack of such scale, combining different types of weapons, had not occurred since the end of the last heating season. “There has been virtually no day since summer when the enemy did not attack energy infrastructure,” Koretskyi said. Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the rise in strikes had brought days of almost continuous air raid alerts across the country. “Russia is intensifying its terror: jet-powered drones during the day, ballistic and cruise missiles at night, constant attacks against our cities and civilian life,” Sybiha said on X. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv was the main target for Russians. Ukraine is critically short of US-made Patriot missiles, its primary defence against fast-moving Russian weaponry, according to reports.