Russia rained down volleys of┬аmissiles across Ukraine on Wednesday, hitting infrastructure in┬аthe capital,┬аKyiv, and other cities as Moscow pursued its campaign┬аto knock out Ukraine’s power and heat ahead of the looming┬аwinter.
Authorities reported power outages across the country┬аas well as in neighbouring Moldova, where┬аofficials said at least┬аhalf the country┬аlost power.
Multiple regions reported attacks in quick succession, suggesting a barrage of strikes. In several regions, authorities reported strikes on critical infrastructure. The Kyiv city administration said that three people were dead and three wounded in the capital after a Russian strike hit a two-storey building.
The entire Kyiv region is now without electricity, according to Gov.┬аOleksiy Kuleba, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said water supplies were knocked out for the entire city.
Zelenskyy promises ‘invincibility centres’
Power units of three Ukrainian nuclear power plants were switched off after the strikes, but nuclear power operator Energoatom┬аsaid radiation levels at all nuclear sites in the country were normal.
State-owned grid operator Ukrenergo said the repair work would┬аbegin when the air raid sirens stop.
Since October, Russia has repeatedly targeted electric power┬аand heating infrastructure. Moscow says the aim is to reduce┬аUkraine’s ability to fight; Kyiv says the intentional strikes on┬аcivilian infrastructure constitute a war crime.
WATCH | Shelling hits dangerously close to Ukraine nuclear plant:
United Nations officials say shelling around UkraineтАЩs Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant hit dangerously close to some of its reactors over the weekend, though itтАЩs unclear who is to blame.
In an overnight video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy┬аannounced special “invincibility centres” would be set up around┬аUkraine to provide electricity, heat, water, internet, mobile┬аphone connections and a pharmacy, free of charge and around the┬аclock.
Russian attacks have knocked out power for long periods for┬аup to 10 million consumers at a time.
“If massive Russian strikes happen again and it’s clear┬аpower will not be restored for hours, the ‘invincibility┬аcentres’ will go into action with all key services,” Zelenskyy┬аsaid.
Russia may be running out of drones: U.K.
Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities follow a┬аseries of battlefield setbacks that have included a retreat from the southern city of Kherson to the east bank of┬аthe Dnipro River that bisects the country.
Russia has been striking Ukraine with expensive┬аlong-range cruise missiles and with cheap Iranian-made drones.┬а Britain’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday there had been no┬аpublic reports of Russia using Iranian one-way attack drones┬аsince around Nov. 17, which it said was a sign Moscow might be┬аrunning out of them, and would try to get more.
Battles raged in the east, where Russia is pressing an┬аoffensive along a stretch of front line west of the city of┬аDonetsk, which has been held by its proxies since 2014. The┬аDonetsk region was the scene of fierce attacks and constant┬аshelling over the past 24 hours, Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian authorities said an overnight rocket attack destroyed a hospital maternity ward in southern Ukraine, killing a two-day-old baby.
Following the overnight strike in Vilniansk, close to the city of Zaporizhzhia, the baby’s mother and a doctor were pulled alive from the rubble.
The region’s governor said the rockets were Russian.
The strike adds to the gruesome toll suffered by hospitals and other medical facilities in the Russian invasion, which┬аwill enter its 10th month this week. Medical centres have been in the firing line from the outset, including a March 9 airstrike that destroyed a maternity hospital in the now-occupied port city of Mariupol.
‘Why kill children?’
First Lady Olena Zelenska wrote on Twitter that a┬аtwo-day-old boy died in the strike and expressed her condolences. “Horrible pain. We will never forget and never forgive,” she said.
Medical workers’ efforts have been complicated by the succession of Russian attacks in recent weeks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. The situation is even worse in the southern city of Kherson, from which Russia retreated nearly two weeks ago after months of occupation,┬аcutting power and water lines.
Many doctors in the city are working in the dark, unable to use elevators to transport patients to surgery and operating with headlamps, cell phones and flashlights. In some hospitals, key equipment no longer works.
“Breathing machines don’t work, X-ray machines don’t work … There is only one portable ultrasound machine and we carry it constantly,” said Volodymyr Malishchuk, the head of surgery at a children’s hospital in the city.
On Tuesday, after strikes on Kherson seriously wounded 13-year-old Artur Voblikov, a team of health staff carefully maneouvred the sedated boy up six flights of a narrow staircase to an operating room to amputate his left arm.
Picking up a piece of shrapnel┬аfound in a 14-year-old boy’s stomach,┬аMalishchuk┬аsaid children are arriving with severe head injuries and ruptured internal organs.
Artur’s mother, Natalia Voblikova, sat in the dark hospital with her daughter, waiting for his surgery to end.
“You can’t even call┬а[Russians]┬аanimals, because animals take care of their own,” said Voblikova, wiping tears from her eyes. “But the children…. Why kill children?”
Oil price cap
In Strasbourg, France, the European Parliament overwhelmingly backed a resolution labelling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for its┬аactions in Ukraine.
The nonbinding but symbolically significant resolution passed in a 494-58 vote, with 48 abstentions. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy welcomed the vote.
“I propose designating the European Parliament as a sponsor┬аof idiocy,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson┬аMaria Zakharova┬аretorted┬аon Telegram.
Meanwhile, European officials were debating the details of a global┬аprice cap on Russian oil, a U.S.-backed proposal taken up by the┬аG7 and set to come into effect on Dec. 5┬аwith the intent of curbing Moscow’s ability to fund the war.
While Western sanctions already mean Russian seaborne crude┬аis now mostly sold in Asia, the trade still mainly involves┬аEuropean shippers and insurers who would be barred from┬аtransporting cargo┬аabove the capped price. Ambassadors from┬аthe 27 EU countries were discussing the G7 proposal with the aim┬аof reaching a common position by the end of the day.
A European diplomat said the price cap being discussed would┬аbe in the $65-70 US┬аper barrel range. Russia’s Urals crude blend already trades at around $70 a barrel, a steep discount to┬аother benchmarks, as a result of sanctions.
The World Health Organization warned this week that hundreds┬аof Ukrainian hospitals and health-care facilities lacked fuel,┬аwater and electricity.
“Ukraine’s health system is facing its darkest days in the┬аwar so far. Having endured more than 700 attacks, it is now also┬аa victim of the energy crisis,” Hans Kluge, the WHO regional┬аdirector for Europe, said in a statement after visiting Ukraine.
