Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have been hit by Russian rocket attacks

Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN
—

Russia launched a flood of missile attacks at Ukrainian Cities on Monday when it ramped up its Attacks on infrastructure facilities across the country.

Explosions and air raid sirens could be heard in Kyiv early Monday, and 80% of residents were without water — many without electricity — after power cuts due to Russian strikes, the capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

One of the strikes hit a power plant that supplied electricity to 350,000 apartments in the capital, Klitschko said, adding that emergency services were trying to restore power and “stabilize the situation as soon as possible”.

Attacks on critical infrastructure in the central Cherkassy and Kirovohrad regions, the eastern Kharkiv region and the southern Zaphorizhzhia region were also reported.

The strike wave comes after Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Crimean city of Sevastopol over the weekend. Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 and has controlled the area ever since.

Klitschko urged residents of the capital to stock up on water from shops and pumping stations after an attack on a nearby power plant.

“Currently, due to damage to the power plant near Kyiv, 80% of the capital’s consumers are left without water supply,” he said on Telegram. “Just in case, we ask you to stock up on water at the nearest pumps and points of sale. Specialists are doing everything to bring water back to the apartments of Kyiv residents.”

He later said supplies would be brought back to the capital’s east bank and part of the west bank within hours. He added that Desnianskyi district’s power supply had been “partially restored.”

Speaking to CNN on the ground in Kyiv, 31-year-old Yana Lysenko said: “Monday morning, as always, started horribly. I have a 4 year old child so naturally I feel stressed.

“We don’t have water at the moment, but we have electricity. We hope that the services will restore everything very quickly. Our spirit is very high and we are waiting for victory. Terrorist actions like this, targeting water and electricity supply, no longer frighten people in my opinion.”

Viktor Halashan, 70, told CNN he remains positive despite having no water supply.

“Having no water is okay, we can deal with it,” he said, adding that he hoped “Ukraine’s troops will soon bring us closer to victory.”

Local clerk Oleksandr Nechepuriak told CNN he was collecting water for 15 people.

“It’s important to get the office up and running,” says Nechepuriak, who works in food production.

“We’ll take care of it,” he said, adding that there were “no other options.”

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko called the attacks “barbaric” and said on Facebook: “Substations, hydroelectric power and heat generation plants were hit by rocket fire.”

He added: “As a result of this massive attack, a partial power outage occurred and emergency power outage plans were introduced for consumers in Kyiv, Cherkassy (and) Zaporizhia and Cherkasy, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and (and) Poltava regions .”

Water supply in Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second largest city – was also affected after an infrastructure facility was hit while most metro services were shut down, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.

“The strike struck a critical infrastructure facility, causing the subway and electric ground transportation to shut down,” he said. “At the moment we managed to get the Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska metro line operational, and we replaced trolleybuses and trams with buses.”

Terekhov said engineers would “do everything possible to restore water supply to the homes of Kharkiv residents as soon as possible.”

Two rockets hit Kharkiv on Monday morning, the mayor had previously announced via telegram.

And in downtown Kryvyi Rih, a rocket hit an industrial enterprise, Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.

“During the morning missile attack, two missiles were shot down (thanks to the air defense forces), and one cruise missile hit an industrial enterprise,” he said. No casualties were reported.

Monday’s strikes hit 10 regions and damaged 18 facilities, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Telegram.

“Their target was not military facilities, but civilian critical infrastructure,” Shmyhal said. “Missiles and drones hit 10 regions, damaging 18 facilities, most of them energy-related.”

He said “hundreds of settlements in seven regions” had lost power and engineers were “working at full capacity” to repair the damage.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired more than 50 cruise missiles at Ukraine on Monday and intercepted 44 of them.

“At 7:00 am on October 31, the Russian occupiers launched several waves of rocket attacks on critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine,” said the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“More than 50 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles were fired from Tu-95/Tu-160 strategic aircraft north of the Caspian Sea and the Volgodonsk region (Rostov region). 44 cruise missiles were destroyed by the Ukrainian military,” the Air Force statement added.

At least 10 Russian missiles were shot down over Kyiv early Monday, regional police chief Andrii Nebytov said on Telegram.

“The police of the Kyiv region are now discovering fragments of rockets fired by the occupying forces in different areas of the region,” he said. “Air defense forces shot down at least 10 enemy missiles.”

Oleksii Kuleba, head of the Kyiv region’s military administration, said the strikes “hit critical infrastructure targets” and two people were injured, one seriously.

Monday’s missiles were fired from Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers launched in Russia’s Rostov region and over the Caspian Sea, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force Command said on TV.

Yurii Ihnat said there were “several waves of rocket launches” and reiterated the claim that Ukraine shot down “a really high percentage”.

Moscow repelled the attacks. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday via Telegram that it was targeting Ukraine’s “military command and power systems.”

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continued their attacks with long-range, high-precision air and sea weapons against the military command and power systems of Ukraine,” it said. “All assigned objects have been hit.”

In recent weeks, Russia has launched a spate of attacks on Ukraine’s power and heating infrastructure.

Even before the strikes on Monday, the situation was serious. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about four million Ukrainians were hit by power cuts that day after attacks on energy infrastructure.

The infrastructure attack is all part of a larger plan by President Vladimir Putin, Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council, told CNN last week.

“Putin’s game plan is clear: he wants to make this winter the coldest and darkest in Ukraine’s history,” she said.

“He will continue to attack infrastructure networks to shut down Ukraine’s electricity and heat supplies. Its kamikaze drone strikes are designed to break the will of the Ukrainian people and incite panic.”

Monday’s attacks come after Russia suspended its participation in a United Nations-brokered grain deal believed to be key to tackling global food shortages. Moscow announced its exit from the deal on Saturday, blaming Ukraine for a drone attack on Crimea. Kyiv accused Russia of inventing “fictitious terrorist attacks” and using the deal as “blackmail”.

Speaking regularly to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Black Sea grain business is “risky” and “dangerous” if Russia cannot guarantee shipping safety.

Asked whether it would be possible to proceed with the grain deal without Russia’s participation, Peskov said that without Russia guaranteeing shipping safety in those areas, “such a deal is hardly feasible.”