Russian overnight drone attack damages energy infrastructure in Odesa region

KYIV: A Russian drone attack overnight damaged equipment at energy facilities in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, the national grid company Ukrenergo said on Friday via the Telegram messaging app.

Separately, the Ukrainian military said its air defence had shot down four drones used overnight in attacks targeting the region's energy infrastructure.

Ukraine's air force said it also shot down nine Russian drones overnight targeting the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia also used two S-300/S-400 missiles and three Iskander-M ballistic missiles in its attack, it said.

Debris from the drones damaged several private residences and farm buildings in Zaporizhzhia region, the military said.

Local officials also reported explosions in an attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv, a regular target of Russian attacks, late on Thursday. The region's governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the attack damaged four cars and a five-storey building but there were no reports of any casualties.

Russia has recently scaled up attacks on Ukraine’s already devasted energy system, staging the biggest strike of the war on grid infrastructure on March 22. It has continued targeting thermal and hydro power plants.

"Unfortunately, Russia continues its energy terror and just in the last weeks they destroyed more than six gigawatts of facilities in our energy [sector] in hydro energy, in coal power energy," Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted on Friday by Estonian Public Broadcasting as saying.