Ukraine Hit by Blackouts as Videos Show Multiple Russian Missiles Launched

Ukraine has said Russian missile strikes are deliberately targeting energy infrastructure across the country which has been left reeling from electricity blackouts.

The country's power grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram that the scale of damage from attacks overnight "is comparable or may exceed" the destruction from an attack that took place between October 10 and 12.

It said that while repairs were ongoing, restrictions were in place in the regions of Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kirovohrad.

It called for people to use energy sparingly and said, according to a translation, "the enemy added to our anger. Anger gives us strength. But we are also strengthened by your understanding and support."

Ukrainian security expert Maria Avdeeva tweeted that some Russian missiles were "successfully intercepted, but others hit Lutsk, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi which are in western Ukraine. "The most modern air defense systems to protect civilian infrastructure are urgent," she added in a call for Western military assistance to thwart the bombardment.

Images shared on social media showed the extent of Russia's missile strikes on Ukraine's power supply which come with winter fast approaching. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that 30 percent of power stations in his country had been destroyed.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian outlet Euromaidan Press reported how Russian missiles had flown over Mykolaiv Oblast towards the west and center of the country.

It said that air defenses reportedly destroyed five missiles in Kyiv and Odesa regions, while explosions were heard in northwestern Rivne and Lutsk, western Khmelnytskyi, and southern Kirovohrad oblast.

Citing Telegram channels, it also said air defenses were scrambled in the western Lviv and Chernivtsi oblasts.

"Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down several rockets, although several more reached their targets causing power outages in Volyn, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad oblasts," it reported.

Meanwhile, images on social media purportedly show missiles flying across the Ukrainian sky and one video tweeted by Euromaidan said, "Ukrainian Mig-29 shooting down a Russian missile in Odesa Oblast."

The local administration of the region said in a Telegram post that three people had been injured after two cruise missiles hit a critical infrastructure facility," advising locals "While the alarm continues, stay in shelter, take care of yourself."

Meanwhile the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that a number of missiles were shot down by air defenses but advised residents in the capital to save electricity and "stay in shelters, take care of your safety." Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

The attacks come as Ukrainian forces advance towards the southern city of Kherson as part of their counter-offensive against the Russian invasion.