After a series of Russian rocket attacks on the country’s various infrastructures, power was restored to nearly 6 million Ukrainians, including its power generation systems. “Repair work continues without interruption after yesterday’s terrorist attack,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address on Saturday.
Russia has claimed its mass strikes against Ukraine on Friday were part of its thwarting of foreign arms sales to Ukraine. On Friday, “Ukraine’s military command systems, military-industrial complex and their supporting power plants were hit by a mass strike using high-precision weapons,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in its daily briefing.
Kyiv mayor says three quarters of Kyiv households have had their heating restored. In a Telegram post on Saturday, Vitali Klitschko wrote: “75% of the capital’s residents already have heat supply. Heating engineers continue to work the second day to stabilize the situation with heat supply in Kyiv.” The work came as the capital’s basic services were restored.
Rescuers have recovered the body of a one and a half year old boy from the rubble of the Russian strike on Friday against a three-story apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipro region, said the region’s governor Valentyn Reznichenko. A total of four people were killed in the attack on Kryvyi Rih, he said. Thirteen others, including four children, were injured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has solicited suggestions from his military commanders during a visit to the operation’s headquarters how they believe Russia’s campaign in Ukraine should continue, the Kremlin said.
Russia has condemned Moldova’s decision to temporarily ban six TV channels as “political censorship”. Moldova accused broadcasters of spreading “false information” about the country and the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Moldova has finalized a short-term energy deal that will help reduce dependence on Russian natural gas, said a senior official on Saturday. Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu said that state-owned gas company Moldovagaz will buy 100 million cubic meters of gas from domestic utility Energocom this month.
Russia’s campaign of attacks against Ukrainian critical infrastructure consisted largely of air and sea-launched cruise missiles, but almost certainly included Iranian-supplied dronesaccording to the British Ministry of Defence. Its latest intelligence update also said Russia was likely concerned about Crimea’s “vulnerability.”
A Ukrainian military commander said Russia could try to invade from the north, possibly around the anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s first ordering of his troops to invade Ukraine. Major General Andrii Kovalchuk told Sky News the fiercest fighting could be ahead and appeared to have been particularly focused on the possibility of Russian troops invading Ukraine’s northern border via Belarus to attack the capital.
An aide to Ukraine’s president said it was “unrealistic” to expect Kyiv to come to an agreement with Russia to end the war. “The war must end only with its defeat,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter, saying Ukraine will proceed with “the necessary proportion of artillery, armored vehicles, drones and long-range missiles.”
A 36-year-old man was killed in his car after Russian forces shelled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson Regional Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said on Saturday morning. A 70-year-old woman was also injured after Russian troops attacked a western district of the city with artillery and multiple rocket launchers, Yanushevich wrote on Telegram.