Russian strikes knock out power and water in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region | Ukraine

Russian strikes have knocked out power and water to much of the Kharkiv region, plunging its cities into darkness and cutting power in hospitals in what Ukraine described as an act of “revenge” by Russia for its recent battlefield successes.

Over the last few days, Ukrainian forces have recaptured the majority of Russian-occupied territory in the region in a lightning offensive.

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv city, said work was under way to restore power and some areas reported that the electricity was back on around 1am on Monday local time.

Earlier, Ukrainian presidential advisers said, however, that a fire was raging at Kharkiv’s number 5 power station.

There were also initial reports of blackouts in neighbouring Sumy and Poltava regions as well as in Dnipropetrovsk, potentially affecting millions of civilians. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said power had now been restored.

Tymoshenko said two cruise missiles hit critical infrastructure in Kharkiv and firefighters are now on the scene and that electricity should soon be back in vital facilities such as hospitals.

“Russians want to leave us without light, water and heat,” said Tymoshenko.

Three explosions were heard in Kharkiv city, where the blackout had affected air raid siren. People had to be evacuated from the Kharkiv metro.

The Ukrainian air force tweeted that the Russians had launched 11 missiles but most had been destroyed.

“This is a mean and cynical revenge of the Russian aggressor for the successes of our army at the front, in particular – in the Kharkiv region,” said Terekhov. “I ask everyone to keep calm.”

On his Telegram, the 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 strikes on critical civilian infrastructure. Not military facilities.’’

Zelenskiy confirmed the power was cut off in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. He also said that parts of Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions were having problems with power.

The regional governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Synegubov, said in a statement: “There is no electricity or water supply in several settlements. Emergency services are working to control fires at the sites that were hit.”

The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Dmytro Reznichenko, also said on Sunday evening that Russian forces were responsible for blackouts across his region. “Several cities 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.

The head of the eastern Sumy region said that the earlier cuts to electricity and water supplies had affected at least 135 towns and villages.