In a renewed assault, Russia bombarded Ukraine with a barrage of missiles and drones on Monday, killing four people and injuring over a dozen. The attacks, which began around midnight and continued through daybreak, were described by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “vile” and appear to be the most significant onslaught in weeks.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported swarms of Russian drones targeting eastern, northern, southern, and central regions, followed by volleys of cruise and ballistic missiles. The attack targeted a wide swath of the country, from the Kharkiv region and Kyiv to Odesa and the west.
Kyiv, the capital, was not spared. Explosions were heard throughout the city, leading to disruptions in power and water supplies, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed that 15 Ukrainian regions — more than half of the country — were hit by drones, cruise missiles, and hypersonic ballistic Kinzhal missiles.
“The energy infrastructure has once again become the target of Russian terrorists,” Shmyhal stated, emphasizing that the state-owned power grid operator, Ukrenergo, has been forced to implement emergency power cuts to stabilize the system. Shmyhal called upon Ukraine’s allies to provide long-range weapons and authorize their use against targets inside Russia.
“In order to stop the barbaric shelling of Ukrainian cities, it is necessary to destroy the place from which the Russian missiles are launched,” Shmyhal declared. “We count on the support of our allies and will definitely make Russia pay.”
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the attack as “outrageous” and announced a re-prioritization of U.S. air defense exports, ensuring they are sent to Ukraine first. The U.S. is also “surging energy equipment to Ukraine” to repair its systems and strengthen its energy grid resilience.
The Russian Defense Ministry justified the attacks, claiming they used “long-range precision air- and sea-based weapons and strike drones against critical energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.”
While the attacks targeted energy facilities, casualties were reported across Ukraine. One person was killed in the western city of Lutsk, one in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, one in Zhytomyr, and one in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Thirteen others were wounded in various regions.
Blackouts and damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were reported from the Sumy region in the east to the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions in the south, to the Rivne region in the west.
In response to the barrage and power cuts, officials across Ukraine were ordered to open “points of invincibility,” providing shelter-type locations where people can charge their devices and receive refreshments during blackouts. These points were first implemented in the fall of 2022, when Russia initially targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Across the border in Poland, the military reported activation of Polish and NATO air defenses in the eastern part of the country due to the attack.
Meanwhile, Russia reported a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, claiming it injured four people in the central region of Saratov. Drones struck residential buildings in two cities — Saratov and Engels, the latter being home to a military airfield that had been attacked previously.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the interception of 22 Ukrainian drones overnight and in the morning over eight provinces, including Saratov and Yaroslavl. They also asserted that their troops repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance on six settlements in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion on August 6th.
The fighting in the Kursk region has raised concerns about the safety of the nuclear power plant located there. Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announced he would visit the plant on Tuesday.
