Six killed in huge Russian attack across Ukraine

At least six people have been killed after Russia launched a large-scale attack across Ukraine, severely damaging power and water supplies.

Explosions were reported in several cities, including Kyiv, on Monday morning, as more than half of the country's regions were hit by missiles and drones. Authorities in the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, and Dnipropetrovsk confirmed fatalities in the extensive air raid.

Russia stated that it had targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, one of its ongoing strategies, and claimed that all intended targets were struck. The barrage of drone and missile attacks began overnight on Monday and continued into the morning. The entire country was placed under air raid alert, with residents urged to remain in shelters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia had fired over 100 missiles and around 100 drones in what he described as one of the largest strikes. He noted significant damage to energy facilities.

While the main target was energy infrastructure, the attack also appeared to be an attempt by Moscow to diminish Ukraine's morale, especially following a successful incursion by Ukrainian forces into Russian territory in the Kursk region. With these strikes, Russia aimed to remind both the Ukrainian public and Western leaders that it still holds considerable power in the conflict.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that 15 regions were targeted using a variety of weapons, including drones, cruise missiles, and supersonic missiles. "There are wounded and dead," Shmyhal said on Telegram, with dozens of people injured.

Those killed included:

• Two men, aged 69 and 47, who died in separate attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where a 14-year-old girl was also injured, according to local governor Sergiy Lysak.
• A man killed when his house was struck in Zaporizhzhia, as reported by the area's governor.
• A person killed in Lutsk when an "infrastructure facility" was hit, with five others wounded and most of the city left without running water, according to the mayor.
• A man killed in Izyum, Kharkiv region, due to a missile strike, according to the regional head.
• A woman who died after missiles hit homes and infrastructure in the Zhytomyr region, as reported by the governor.

The attacks caused severe damage to infrastructure, leading to power outages in many cities, including Kyiv, and disruptions to water supplies. Energy company DTEK imposed emergency blackouts, while its engineers worked to restore electricity across the country.

Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure since the early days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The campaign has intensified in recent months, leading to frequent blackouts. In June, President Zelensky said Russia had destroyed half of Ukraine's electricity-generating capacity since it began targeting energy facilities in late March.

Ukraine has been purchasing energy from the European Union, but this has not been sufficient, leading to planned nationwide blackouts to prioritize critical needs such as hospitals and military sites.

Russia's defense ministry claimed it had attacked electricity and gas facilities, as well as locations storing Western weapons, resulting in power outages and disruptions to rail transport of weapons and ammunition to the front lines.

Despite a challenging year on the battlefield, with Russia gaining ground in the eastern Donbas region, Ukraine's recent incursion into Kursk boosted morale and demonstrated to the West that Kyiv is still capable of conducting complex and successful offensives.

On Monday, President Zelensky urged Western allies, including the U.S., the U.K., and France, to revise their rules and allow Ukraine to use their weapons to strike deeper inside Russia. He argued that Ukraine could do more to protect lives if European air forces cooperated with Ukraine's air defenses.

Additionally, on Monday, Ukraine attempted to attack an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, a city northeast of Moscow, according to the regional governor, with no casualties or damage reported. Russia's defense ministry also stated it had destroyed nine drones over the Saratov region, located 560 miles (900 km) from the Ukrainian border.