Ukraine Races To Restore Power Grid After Russia Strikes

Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Dec, 2022 ) :Ukraine worked to restore power on Tuesday after Russia's latest wave of missile strikes caused power disruptions across the country, right as winter frost builds and temperatures plunge.

Out of the 70 missiles launched by Moscow, "most" were shot down, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, but the barrage still hit Ukraine's already battered infrastructure.

Fresh power cuts were announced in all regions "due to the consequences of shelling," national electricity provider Ukrenergo said on Telegram.

The head of Ukrenergo said he had "no doubt that Russian military consulted with Russian power engineers during this attack", judging by where the missiles landed.

"The time that Russians chose for this attack was connected with their desire to inflict as much damage as possible," Volodymyr Kudrytskyi told a Ukrainian news programme, explaining the attacks were launched as the country enters a "peak frost" period.

"Our repairmen will be working on the energy system restoration." Nearly half of Ukraine's energy system has already been damaged after months of strikes on power infrastructure, leaving people in the cold and dark for hours at a time as outdoor temperatures drop below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).

As missiles rained down on Kyiv, UN rights chief Volker Turk -- who arrived over the weekend on a four-day visit -- had to move his meetings with activists into an underground shelter.

Zelensky announced in his nightly address that four were killed in Russia's strikes.

But "our people never give up," the president said in a video statement.

Across the border in Russia's Kursk region on Tuesday, an airfield saw a "drone attack", said local governor Roman Starovoyt, without specifying where the drone originated.

"As a result of a drone attack in the area of the Kursk airfield, an oil storage tank caught fire," he said on social media, adding that there were no casualties.

Tuesday's incident comes a day after Moscow accused its neighbour of carrying out deadly drone strikes on two other airfields.

Russia also confirmed a "massive attack on Ukrainian military command systems and related defence, communications, energy and military facilities".