Three Ukrainian regions, Kyiv, Odesa and Chernihiv, were left completely without electricity yesterday as a result of a wave of Russian missiles – about 70, of which the Ukrainian air defense said it had shot down 51 – while power outages were taking place in general throughout the country, even reaching neighboring Moldova.
The capital, Kyiv, was also without water supply, causing queues at distribution points, and the same happened in the city of Odessa due to the blackout of all pumping stations, which also affected heating. According to the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klichkó, three people died, including a 17-year-old girl. Another eleven people were injured in missile attacks on residential buildings in different districts. According to the head of the regional administration, Alexei Kuleba, "there are impacts on high-rise buildings in Víshhorod and Chabaní."
But the most tragic event occurred in the city of Vilniansk, in the Zaporizhia region. “In the evening – from Tuesday to Wednesday – the occupiers fired missiles at a small maternity ward of the Vilnyansk hospital. Sorrow fills our hearts: a newborn baby died." This was reported by the head of the regional administration, Olexánder Stáruj. The mother and the doctor survived, being rescued from the ruins.
In the recently liberated city of Jershon, hospitals remain without electricity supply, no respirators, X-ray machines, or elevators work, and it operates by the light of headlights and mobile phones.
Power units of three nuclear power plants were shut down as a result of the attacks, Ukraine's state nuclear power company Enerhoatom said. These are the Rivne, Pivdennoukrainsk and Khmelnitski plants, which were disconnected from the electrical system, as happened days ago. The Ukrenergo power company applied emergency cutoffs throughout Ukraine. However, the regulator warned, "due to frost and freezing rain in some regions, recovery work at facilities damaged by terrorist missiles may take longer."
