Russia Destroyed 30% of Ukraine’s Power Stations in a Week: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday, Oct.18, that Russian forces had “destroyed” a third of Ukraine’s power stations in repeated strikes that targeted energy infrastructure and caused blackouts across the country.

“Since October 10, 30 percent of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” Zelensky said on Twitter.

He added there was “no space left for negotiations with (President Vladimir) Putin’s regime”.

Several regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, were experiencing power cuts after a new round of strikes Tuesday hit energy facilities.

In Kyiv, energy operator DTEK said there were “interruptions” to the electricity and water supply to the residents of the capital’s left bank.

“Engineers are investigating and making all the necessary efforts to restore the power to the city’s residents,” the company said on Facebook.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko called on residents to save electricity “as much as possible” and avoid using appliances with high energy consumption.

Parts of Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, were also without electricity after strikes on an energy facility, governor Vitaliy Bunechko said.

He added there were no casualties.

The region’s main city Zhytomyr was without electricity and water with hospitals working “on backup power supplies”, mayor Serhiy Shukhomlyn said on Facebook.

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Power cuts were reported in parts of Dnipro region in central Ukraine following a strike on energy infrastructure that caused “fire and serious damage”, governor Valentyn Reznichenko said.

There were also “interruptions” in water supply on the left bank of Dnipro city, he added, while the neighbouring city of Pavlograd was without water after a strike on a “critical infrastructure facility”, according to its city council.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight strikes hit a residential building in the central district — killing at least one person — as well as a flower market in the same area.

Power supply was restored there on Tuesday morning, Oct.18.