Russian forces attacked a thermal power plant in the Kyiv region as part of an overnight attack, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said on Monday, triggering local power outages and gas outages.

The attack came a day after Moscow's largest airstrike in Ukraine's three-and-a-half-year war. "The goal is clear: to cause even more hardship to the peaceful Ukrainian population, leaving Ukrainian homes, hospitals, kindergartens, and schools without light and heating," the ministry wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

It added that rescue teams and technicians were working at the site on Monday. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it had attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukrainian energy facilities since launching a full-scale invasion in 2022, causing massive power outages in previous years.

Ukraine's electricity grid operator, Ukrenergo, said on Monday that Russia had attacked electricity infrastructure in several regions of Ukraine, causing local power outages. "Emergency repair work is underway, and most consumers had their power restored by Monday morning," he said.

Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of the Kyiv region, said the attack had damaged the local gas network and that more than 8,000 properties in eight settlements would be cut off for the next two days while repairs were carried out.

"For several weeks now, the enemy has been attacking energy system facilities in various regions," Serhiy Kovalenko, CEO of the Yasno energy company, wrote on X. "Of course, no one knows what will happen this fall, but given the recent attacks, there is no particular reason for optimism," he added in a subsequent post. (alg)

Source: Reuters