In recent days, Ukrainian forces have recaptured the majority of Russian-held territory in the region in a lightning offensive. Ihor Terekhov, mayor of the city of Kharkiv, said work was underway to restore power, and some areas reported that power was restored around 1 a.m. Monday local time. Earlier, advisers to the president of Ukraine said, however, that a fire was raging at power station number 5 in Kharkiv. There were also initial reports of blackouts in neighboring Sumy and Poltava regions as well as Dnipropetrovsk, potentially affecting millions of civilians. Kirill Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s deputy chief of staff, said power had now been restored. Tymoshenko said two cruise missiles hit critical infrastructure in Kharkiv and firefighters were now on the scene, and that power should soon be restored to vital facilities such as hospitals. “The Russians want to leave us without light, water and heat,” Tymoshenko said. Three explosions were heard in the city of Kharkiv, where the blackout had affected the air raid siren. People had to be evacuated from the Kharkiv metro. The Ukrainian air force tweeted that the Russians had fired 11 missiles but most were destroyed. 🇷🇺 launched a missile attack on the eastern regions of 🇺🇦 on Sunday afternoon. In total, the enemy used 11 cruise missiles. Units of the “East” air command shot down 7 cruise missiles in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Of these, 5 – X-101, 2 – Caliber. — Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) September 11, 2022 Two more missiles were destroyed by Air Force units in the Poltava region. — Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) September 11, 2022 “This is an evil and cynical revenge of the Russian aggressor for the successes of our army on the front, in particular – in the Kharkiv region,” Terekhov said. “I ask everyone to remain calm.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our site and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the strikes were “evil and cynical revenge”. Photo: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian In his cable, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote: “Even through the impenetrable darkness, Ukraine and the civilized world can clearly see that these are acts of terrorists. [They are] deliberate and cynical missile attacks on critical civilian infrastructure; No military installations.” Zelensky confirmed that power was cut in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. He also said that parts of Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions were experiencing power problems. Kharkiv region governor Oleg Sinegubov said in a statement: “There is no electricity or water supply in several settlements. Emergency services are working to control the fires in the affected areas.” The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Dmytro Reznichenko, also said Sunday night that Russian forces were responsible for the blackouts in his region. “Many towns and communities in the Dnipropetrovsk region are without electricity. The Russians hit energy infrastructure. They cannot accept defeat on the battlefield,” he said in a statement online before power was reportedly restored. Eastern district chief Sumi said previous power and water outages had affected at least 135 towns and villages.
