At least seven explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the morning of August 26, AFP journalists heard. The incident came amid a nationwide alert against Russian air strikes. File. | Photo credit: AFP
Russia launched massive drone and missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday (August 26, 2024), and at least three people were reported killed in the attack targeting energy infrastructure.
The attack began around midnight and continued well after daybreak. It appears to be Russia’s biggest attack against Ukraine in several weeks.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, several groups of Russian drones were heading towards the eastern, northern, southern and central regions of Ukraine, carrying a number of cruise and ballistic missiles.
Sounds of explosions were heard in the capital Kiev. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack had disrupted power and water supply in the city.
Igor Polishchuk, mayor of the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, said a multi-storey residential building and an unidentified infrastructure were damaged and one person was killed.
Another person was killed in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, where the attack sparked several fires, regional chief Serhiy Lysak said.
One person was also killed in the southeastern, partially occupied region of Zaporizhzhia, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said.
Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK declared an emergency blackout, saying in an online statement that “energy workers across the country are working 24/7 to restore light to the homes of Ukrainians.” In neighboring Poland, the military said Polish and NATO air defenses had been activated in the eastern part of the country as a result of the attack.