KYIV: Russia fired missiles at energy infrastructure in the northeast Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday hours after an overnight drone strike on the region, reducing power in some areas and forcing authorities to use back-up power systems.
The Sumy region's governor, Volodymyr Artiukh, citing an initial assessment, said Russia had used at least four missiles in the latest attack on energy facilities.
Ukraine's energy ministry said Russia's attacks had caused a fire at a power substation and cut power to more than 281,000 consumers. Power was later partially restored, it said.
Acting Sumy mayor Artem Kobzar said there were no casualties in the city, but regional officials said the overnight drone attack had damaged the region's Konotop, Okhtyrka and Sumy districts.
Critical infrastructure facilities had to use back-up power systems, regional authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 51 drones in Tuesday's attack, of which 34 were shot down.
Russia also dropped three guided bombs on the town of Hlukhiv, Ukraine's northern military command said on Telegram. Two people were wounded and 20 private houses, public transport and a grain silo suffered damage. Russia has been attacking energy infrastructure in what Kyiv says is a concerted effort to degrade the energy system before winter, when people need electricity and heating most.
Russian forces have been steadily advancing in Ukraine's east, while Ukrainian forces remain in the Russian region of Kursk following a cross-border incursion last month. Moscow said its air defence systems had overnight destroyed 16 Ukrainian drones over Russia's Kursk and Bryansk regions.
Meanwhile, Russia said on Tuesday it had repelled five new attempts by Ukrainian forces to smash through its border into the Kursk region, bringing the total number of reported attacks on the border to 26 in just the past six days.
Russia began a major counteroffensive against the Ukrainian forces in Kursk on Sept. 10, pushing Kyiv's forces back towards the Snagost River. But Ukrainian forces have been trying for about a week to pierce the Russian border towards Veseloe and Medvezhe in an attempt to threaten the Russian counteroffensive about 15 km to the west of the main theatre of battle in Kursk.
"With the support of army aviation and artillery fire, five attempts by the armed forces of Ukraine to pierce the border of the Russian Federation in the direction of Veseloe and Medvezhe were repelled," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement. — Reuters
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