Mass Russian rocket strikes leave Kharkiv without power, heating and water

The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was left without power, heating, and water after at least 70 Russian rockets were fired at several regions in the country.

Authorities said that three people died and several others were injured, including three children, after a rocket hit a residential building in the southern city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipro region.

The mass strikes appeared to be a continuation of the Kremlin’s attempt to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s state energy company Ukrenergo said energy consumption had fallen by 50% as a result of the attacks.

The company said Russia had hit thermal power plants, hydroelectric plants and substations of main networks. Ukrenergo said it will take longer to repair the national grid and restore power than it did after previous Russian missile attacks, with priority given to “critical infrastructure facilities”.

Energy infrastructure was hit across the country, resulting in complete outages in Ukraine’s eastern and central regions of Kharkiv and Poltava. Nine power facilities in the country were damaged by Friday’s strikes, Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said.

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said the missile strikes caused “colossal” damage to infrastructure and left the city without power, heating and water. A senior Ukrainian presidential official said emergency power shutdowns were being brought in across the country.

There were water disruptions in every district, according to Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, and local people reported immediate power outages.