On Monday morning, Russian strikes targeted vital targets in three regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, causing power outages in “hundreds of communities,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
“This morning, Russian terrorists again attacked Ukraine’s energy facilities in three regions,” Shmyhal said.
He added: “5 drone strikes on Kyiv and missile strikes on the Dnepropetrovsk (central-eastern) and Sumy (north-eastern) regions,” noting that “hundreds of settlements were left without electricity.”
Energoatum, the state-owned nuclear energy company, also said the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was cut off from the national power grid on Monday following the Russian bombing, bringing back-up diesel generators to life.
“Russian terrorists once again bombed important infrastructure substations, cutting off the last 750 kV communication line at 03:59,” the report says.
On the other hand, Oleksandr Senkevich, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Nikolaev, said on Monday that late last night Russian drones bombed storage facilities for storing sunflower oil at the port of the seaside city.
“In Nikolaev, three drones attacked part of the industrial infrastructure, set fire to containers with sunflower oil,” the mayor said.
Mykolaiv, one of Ukraine’s largest, suspended shipments at the start of the Russian military operation, but Ukraine is pushing for a port to be opened to boost food shipments in a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey.
Ukraine has shot down 37 Russian drones since Sunday evening, about 85-86 percent of the number involved in recent attacks, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said on Monday.
“This is a good result of our air defense efforts, and this number will increase in the future,” he said at a press briefing, adding that all drones entered Ukrainian airspace from the south.