Russian missiles hit energy infrastructure, cause massive blackouts, loss of heat and water
Energy infrastructure reportedly damaged in recent Russian air raids on Kyiv Oblast (Photo:REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)
For the third Monday in October, Kyiv was rocked by a massive missile attack by Russia against critical civilian infrastructure, with attacks knocking out power and water to districts across the Ukrainian capital.
Air raid sirens started to wail at around 07.00 a.m. in Kyiv on Oct. 31, as well as throughout Ukraine; Shortly after, Russian missiles reportedly hit energy infrastructure facilities in Kyiv Oblast, causing massive blackouts in the city, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said on his channel on the Telegram messenger.
Klitschko said an energy facility that supplies 350,000 households with power had been damaged.
"Energy workers are restoring the electricity supply after damage to an energy facility that supplies about 350,000 apartments in Kyiv," the mayor said.
Klitschko also reported that about 80% of the city’s households had been left without a water supply.
The disruption has also hit the city’s centralized heating system, which pipes hot water to radiators in residential buildings.
Meanwhile, Kyiv City Civil Administration said no hits were recorded in Kyiv itself – the power outages were caused by attacks on targets in Kyiv Oblast.
According to the administration, the explosions heard in Kyiv on the morning of Oct. 31 were the result of air defense forces’ operating. Thanks to them, no hits were recorded in Kyiv, it said.
The air aid alert in Kyiv lasted for about three hours, starting at 07.00 a.m. Kyiv time on Oct. 31.
"The morning strikes in Kyiv Oblast have affected the capital's water and energy supply!” Kyiv City Civil Administration said on Telegram
“There are already outages in some districts of the city. All services are working on liquidation of the consequences (of the Russian attack).”
The chief of Kyiv Oblast’s police, Andrii Nebutov, confirmed there was damage to infrastructure caused by Russian cruise missile impacts in the oblast on the morning of Oct. 31.
“The air defense forces have already shot down enemy missiles in one of the districts of Kyiv Oblast. However, as a result of the shelling and hits by the occupiers, there are damaged buildings. There are causualties," Nebutov said on Telegram.
The head of Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, Mykola Kuleba, in turn asked residents of the oblast to be prepared for long-lasting blackouts.
According to him, energy infrastructure in the oblast was damaged in the massive shelling, and part of it remains without electricity, thus, emergency power cuts are a necessary measure.
"Prepare for a long loss of electricity," he said on Telegram.
Missiles attacks were also reported in the cities of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, as well as in Cherkasy, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Chernivtsi, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. In many areas, Ukrainian air defense forces were heard shooting down Russian missiles. Explosions from air defense missiles shooting down incoming cruise missiles were heard in the city of Kyiv, as well as in Poltava and Vinnytsia oblasts.
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