Russia Launches New Missile Strikes On Energy Infrastructure Across Ukraine

Russia launched a new wave of missile strikes across Ukraine early on Thursday morning. Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, the capital Kyiv, and Kharkiv all saw their energy infrastructure targeted, cutting off power in some areas, according to a Reuters report.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that explosions occurred in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi District, in the southwestern part of the city, early Thursday morning. 

"Explosions in the Holosiivskyi District of the capital. All (emergency) services are en route to the site. More details to follow," he wrote. 

Officials in Odesa were warning of another wave of missile strikes in the early morning hours of Thursday. 

The governor of the Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko said an energy facility had been hit in the port city.

On Telegram, Marchenko said, “As a result of a mass missile strike, an energy infrastructure site was hit in the region as well as residences,” Marchenko said on Telegram, adding that “Fortunately, there are no casualties. Electricity restrictions are in effect.”

He said anti-aircraft units had downed some missiles but cautioned that more attacks could follow.

According to the Kyiv Independent, explosions have been heard across a number of cities, including regions of Kyiv, Poltava, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad, and Dnipropetrovsk.

The Kyiv Oblast military administration has said that the country’s air defenses were “operating” in Kyiv Oblast, with a stay-in-shelter order, though no additional information was offered, the newspaper reported. 

The wave of Russian missile attacks came shortly after Russian Wagner mercenary forces claimed they had captured the eastern part of the city of Bakhmut, the present focal point of this most recent phase of the war. 

There has been much debate over what a Ukrainian loss at Bakhmut would mean for the war. While many believe that a Ukrainian loss here would not be a game-changer for the war, Ukrainian officials have warned that control of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, would give Russia an “open door” to push deeper into the region.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN that Ukrainian forces would continue to defend the city. On Monday, Zelensky issued a statement saying that Ukraine would not withdraw from Bakhmut.

"This is tactical for us… after Bakhmut, they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk," Zelensky said. "That's why our guys are standing there."

By Charles Kennedy for  Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Oil Prices Are Set To Rise Throughout 2023
• Shell Is Reviewing Its Plan To Reduce Oil Production This Decade
• OPEC Officials And U.S. Shale Executives Discuss Global Oil Supply