A Russian attack on Kyiv left residents without water for more than 24 hours it has been reported, as Moscow continues its targeting of Ukrainian infrastructure. Russia’s mass attack Tuesday was the largest on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure so far this year, the Kyiv Independent reported with most districts in the Ukrainian capital affected. Previous water outages in Kyiv have lasted only for a few hours but Mykhailo Yatsuk, director of the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation, told the outlet, "this is the most serious water outage in Kyiv since the war began." Newsweek has contacted the institute and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Infrastructure across other parts of Ukraine, including in the central and western regions, was also targeted that night, causing widespread power outages. "The reality of Russia’s energy war is felt acutely in Kryvyi Rih, where strikes on local thermal power plants leave an entire industrial city rationed to just three hours of electricity a day," Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of nonprofit Hope for Ukraine, told Newsweek. Without electricity to power water systems, water cannot be pumped to households and businesses.
Kyivvodokanal, Kyiv's water company, said the Russian attack on Tuesday effectively cut off all water supply in the city on Tuesday but by early afternoon Wednesday, the water system had been fully restored. Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Industry Research Center, told the Kyiv Independent that Russian strikes in January had crippled power generation at three of Kyiv's combined heat and power plants (CHP). "We used to always have the option to power water supply from one of the CHPs, but as of now, we have lost this opportunity," Kharchenko said.
Yatsuk and an unnamed manager at a water pump company warned of further water disruptions, telling the outlet that people should stockpile water supplies ahead of winter. The Ukrainian Air Force reported Russia launched 310 drones in total overnight Tuesday. Authorities reported energy infrastructure was struck in the capital, as well as the Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Odesa, Volyn, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr regions.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed strikes on electrical substations in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. Overnight Wednesday, Russian drone attacks on Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv regions caused fires at logistics infrastructure facilities and injured four people, local authorities reported. The Kremlin-affiliated Russian Telegram channel Rybar said that Russian forces had shifted to “more systematic and rational” strikes by targeting substations and smaller facilities.
This aimed to directly impact electricity flows and weaken Ukraine during winter. Kyiv has repeatedly called for the U.S. to provide Patriot interceptor missiles and other air defense systems to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and repair work. "When missile and drone strikes rupture the regional power grid, everyday survival shrinks to a tight race against the clock charging phones, boiling water, and heating cold rooms before the power cuts out again," said Boyechko, from Hope for Ukraine.
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