Day 296: New Russian Missile Attacks on Ukraine's Energy Infrastructure

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Facts

  • Russia launched over 70 missiles into Ukraine on Friday, Ukrainian officials said, once again striking energy infrastructure across the country. Attacks were recorded in Kyiv, its surrounding Oblast, as well as the regions of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Zhytomyr.
  • The attacks left the whole of the capital without power or electricity, with outages also reported in the city of Poltava and the regions of Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk.
  • Head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko, said two civilians were killed and five more were injured after one missile hit a residential building in the city of Kryvyi Rih. No further civilian casualties have been reported at this stage.
  • Meanwhile, Thursday attacks on the region of Kherson left four people dead and nine more injured per the region's head Yaroslav Yanushevych.
  • In Donetsk, still the scene of the heaviest fighting, Ukrainian officials said seven civilians were killed and seven more were injured in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
  • Pro-Russia officials from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said two civilians were killed and 13 were injured in Ukrainian attacks on territory it controls over the same time period. Officials from the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) meanwhile reported that eight civilians were killed and 23 were injured in the settlement of Lantratovka.
  • Elsewhere, Poland’s police chief, Jarosław Szymczyk, was taken to hospital with minor injuries after a gift he received from a senior Ukrainian official exploded, Poland's interior ministry said. A civilian employee at the national police headquarters was also injured. "The Polish side has asked the Ukrainian side to provide an explanation," the interior ministry said.

Sources: Pravda, Ukrinform, Tass, and Guardian.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNBC. Russia's deliberate targeting of energy infrastructure — unnecessarily increasing the suffering of civilians — amounts to war crimes. This continuing Russian barbarity must be confronted.
  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Tass. Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are a direct consequence of the failure of the country's leadership to meaningfully engage in peace talks and the thought that they can defeat Russia on the battlefield. These attacks will stop once a more sober position is reached.

Predictions