Ukraine Russia war live news: Russian strikes target Ukraine’s energy systems leaving 200,000 without power in Kharkiv

Ukrainian regions in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Kyiv came under attack as local officials confirmed the strikes on energy infrastructure, substations, and power facilities.

Emergency power cuts for at least 200,000 people have been reported in Kyiv, officials said.

Russian overnight strikes completely destroyed Trypilska thermal power plant outside Ukraine‘s capital Kyiv, Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted a senior company official as saying.

Russia staged a major missile and drone strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure early on Thursday, damaging substations and power facilities in five regions and causing emergency power cuts for at least 200,000 people, Kyiv officials said.

A Russian attack on Ukraine’s eastern region of Kharkiv snapped power links to more than 200,000 consumers on Thursday, Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Loud explosions and bombings rocked several of Ukraine’s cities early today as authorities reported a fresh wave of more than 40 Russian missile strikes and 40 drone attacks.

Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekho, said on Telegram, as well as in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to governor Ivan Fedorov.

Loud explosions and bombings rocked several Ukraine’s cities this morning as authorities reported a fresh wave of Russian missile strikes.

Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekho, said on Telegram, as well as in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to governor Ivan Fedorov, also on the app.

The governor of the western Lviv region, Maksim Kozytskyi, said on Telegram that air defences were working in the area.

Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko said on Telegram that the attacks targeted power generation and distribution facilities in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv and Kyiv regions.

Officials in Kyiv said the attacks have damaged its power grid facilities.

Casualties and damage to residential areas is not immediately known.

Russian influence has penetrated American political system, claimed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“They have their lobbies everywhere: in the United States, in the EU countries, in Britain, in Latin America, in Africa,” Mr Zelensky told The Politico while referring to Russia.

“When we talk about the Congress – do you notice how they work with society in the United States?”

He also warned against the Russia’s information warfare and its influence on American media and citizens.

“They pump their narratives through the media,” Mr Zelensky said. “These are not Russian citizens or natives of Russia, no. They are representatives of certain media groups, citizens of the United States. They are the ones in the media with the appropriate messages, sometimes very pro-Russian.”

The top general for US forces in Europe told Congress that Ukraine will be outgunned 10 to one by Russia within a matter of weeks if Congress does not find a way to approve sending more ammunition and weapons to Kyiv soon.

The testimony from Army Gen Christopher Cavoli, head of US European Command, and Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, comes as Congress enters pivotal weeks for voting for aid for Ukraine, but there’s no guarantee funding will be improved in time.

Ukraine has been rationing its munitions as Congress has delayed passing its $60bn supplemental bill.

It cannot have been a great surprise to the foreign secretary, David Cameron, that Donald Trump showed such little interest in supporting Ukraine’s war of resistance. Had Mr Trump wanted to see Ukraine receive the military assistance that Kyiv has been begging for, and which remains stalled in the House of Representatives, he’d have given it the nod months ago, and the Republican caucus would have responded with alacrity.

We’re learning, if we had not already, the full gruesome nature of what lies behind the slogan “America First”. Mr Trump, as he’s already practically admitted, is not interested in helping President Biden get his plan through Congress; nor is he much bothered about the territorial integrity of Ukraine. He plainly regards the war as a waste of money and a lost cause – indeed, a cause for which he feels little sympathy.

Read The Independent’s Editorial here:

Pictures of blackened farmland and destroyed tractors show the aftermath of a recent Russian shelling.

The civil agricultural enterprise in Novgorod-Sivers was struck with damage to buildings and the silo.

Fortunately, people were not hurt.

The police of Novgorod-Siversky said the event will be submitted to the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The bishop for Ukraine in London has urged the UK and the US to “honour their pledges” and not forget that Ukraine is fighting Russia to save the “rule of law and democracy”.

Two years ago, Russia launched a devastating full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capturing nearly a quarter of the country and displacing more than 10 million people. There are now at least six million Ukrainian refugees in Europe, including around 250,000 in the UK.

“This is not just a battle for Ukraine,” the Catholic bishop told The Independent. “It is the battle for rule of law, democracy and freedoms that we have all taken advantage of. That we stand to lose.