Intense Russian strikes on Sunday, October 5, on Ukraine killed five people in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and Lviv in the west and badly damaged energy infrastructure, severing power supplies to tens of thousands. Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as the weather chills.
“This Sunday night, Russia launched yet another barrage of missiles and drones against the people of Ukraine, targeting the Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
Lviv has been the area that the Russian military has targeted less since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine in February 2022, as it is far from the front line.
“In Lviv, four people were killed and four others injured. In Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and 10 injured after Russia targeted residential areas with drones and aerial bombs. Across all affected areas, residential buildings and critical infrastructure were damaged.”
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the four killed in Lviv were from the same family and included a teenage girl. There were widespread power outages in the city as energy equipment was damaged, the service provider said.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky said the overnight attack saw over 50 missiles and about 500 attack drones fired at his country. “The Russians once again targeted our infrastructure – everything that ensures normal life for our people. We need more protection and faster implementation of all defence agreements, especially on air defence, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning,” he said Sunday.
Poland’s armed forces, meanwhile, said on X that they had mobilized planes and put ground defenses on high alert to secure the country’s airspace, especially in areas close to Ukraine.
The mayor of Lviv, a western Ukrainian city near the border with Poland, said public transport routes were not operating due to a “massive enemy attack.” Public transport in Ivano-Frankivsk, another western city, would “start running later than usual” on Sunday, its mayor said.
This week, Moscow launched its largest-ever strike on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, while strikes on Saturday cut off power to around 50,000 households in the northern Chernihiv region.