Sept 22 (Reuters) – Russia hit Ukraine’s industrial heartland overnight, killing four, while an attack in the north cut power supply to thousands, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
Moscow has escalated its air war, striking economic targets from businesses and ports to logistics hubs as frontline fighting has largely stalled more than 4-1/2 years into the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the conflict.
STRIKES ON INDUSTRIAL CITIES
Moscow simultaneously hit industrial enterprises in the cities of Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad in the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on the Telegram messaging app.
The region is home machine building, steel-making and other major production.
Russia deployed missiles, drones and artillery at four districts, killing four people and injuring six in Dnipro, where Hanzha said a business and warehouse premises were badly damaged.
The Russian barrage included an unspecified number of Oniks anti-ship and ballistic missiles, as well as four cruise missiles and 212 drones, Ukraine’s air force said.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces hit industrial and military facilities in Ukraine, targeting the fuel and energy sector as well as port infrastructure facilities and sea vessels serving the Ukrainian military.
Businesses have also been damaged in Pavlohrad and Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Hanzha added.
A Russian attack on an energy facility in a neighbouring region cut power supplies to nearly 100,000 consumers in the northern region of Chernihiv, an electricity distributor said.
Moscow hit an industrial enterprise and a critical infrastructure facility in a “massive” attack on the central region of Poltava, Governor Vitalii Diakivnych said, without giving details.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces hit an oil refinery in the city of Kremenchuk in the Poltava region.
Ukraine in turn has stepped up attacks on Russia, targeting the largest online retailers and oil refineries, often deep in its territory.
Ukrainian drones hit civilian targets in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga River, the local governor said, killing one and injuring four. The region is home to critically important facilities, such as oil refineries.
The Russian defence ministry said air defence units destroyed 297 drones over various Russian regions overnight.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Kevin Buckland and Clarence Fernandez)
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