Supply teams across Ukraine worked to restore water and electricity supplies after a barrage of Russian missiles a day earlier crippled supplies to hundreds of thousands of people, while Russian authorities ramped up the exodus of civilians from the southern Kherson region.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city’s water supply had been fully restored and the electricity system had been repaired, but added that power outages would continue on Tuesday. Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s electricity transmission system operator, said electricity supply would be restricted in seven regions, including Kyiv and northeastern Kharkiv region.
The restrictions “are necessary to reduce the load on the networks,” Ukrenergo wrote after the recent attacks on Telegram. “This allows energy companies to quickly remediate damaged power systems, balance the system, and power consumers.”
Subscribe to Newsletter
The 10 point.
A personal, guided tour of the best scoops and stories each day in The Wall Street Journal.
Monday’s rocket attack was the latest Russian attack on Ukraine’s power system, which has become the Kremlin’s main target in recent weeks. More than a third of Ukraine’s power generation capacity had already been destroyed prior to Monday’s attack. Although Ukrainian officials said 45 of the 55 rockets launched by Moscow were shot down, the country’s energy system has continued to suffer damage, raising the specter of a winter when much of the country may have no electricity, heating or running water.
In his nightly address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said workers would do everything possible to restore power and vowed that the attacks on critical infrastructure would not dampen Ukrainians’ will to fight. He said Russian forces had lost 72,000 troops in Ukraine since February. In September Moscow said 5,937 of its soldiers had been killed in Ukraine.
“Russian terrorists do not have such missiles that could hit the Ukrainian will to live,” Zelenskyy said. “There will be an answer on the battlefield.”
Meeting on Tuesday with EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson in Ukraine, Zelensky called on the Commission to play a coordinating role in winning the support from EU member states needed to restore Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ms Simson said on Twitter that Ukraine needed special equipment and tools to repair the damage and that she assured Mr Zelensky that “we are reaching out to partners to help with the support needed.”
Although attacks on Ukraine’s energy system have become more frequent in recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday’s attack was in response to a drone strike in Crimea on Saturday. The Russian Defense Ministry has blamed Ukraine for this attack, and in response, with the help of the United Kingdom, Russia has also suspended its participation in a United Nations-brokered deal to safely export grain from Ukraine.
Mr Putin told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Tuesday that Russia needed an investigation into the attack and guarantees from Kyiv that the grain corridor would not be used for military purposes so that it would cooperate again on the grain deal with the Kremlin.
The UN has dismissed Russian accusations that Ukraine used the grain corridor for armed attacks as no military ships are allowed to approach the shipping route monitored by the UN and Turkey.
Ukraine has claimed no credit for the attack and Britain has denied involvement. Still, attacks deep within Russian-held territory have become more common. On Monday afternoon, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service tweeted that two Ka-52 helicopters were destroyed and two others damaged at an airfield in Russia’s Pskov region, which is hundreds of kilometers north of Ukraine near Russia’s border with Estonia.
A school hit by a Russian missile in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images
Moscow has not commented on the alleged attack in Pskov.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday Russia had sent 87,000 newly mobilized men to Ukraine, up from the 82,000 he reported on Friday. According to Moscow, it has mobilized a total of 300,000 men, some of whom are currently in training.
Ms Shoigu said around 3,000 instructors with combat experience in Ukraine were involved in training the mobilized.
“We continue to effectively hit military infrastructure facilities with precision-guided strikes, as well as facilities that reduce Ukraine’s military potential,” Mr. Shoigu said.
According to residents and military analysts, many of the mobilized soldiers were deployed to the Kherson region. Ukrainian troops are closing in on the city of Kherson, the region’s only capital that Moscow captured this year. Supply lines to the city, which sits on the west bank of the Dnipro River, have been largely cut off, and two weeks ago Russian-installed authorities in the region began moving civilians east across the river to areas more tightly controlled by Moscow.
On Monday evening, Russian-installed Kherson region head Volodymyr Saldo announced an extension of the evacuation, saying civilians within 15 kilometers of the Dnipro River would be taken even further into Russian-held territory.
The evacuation was necessary, he said, because Ukrainians could blow up the Kakhovka dam and flood the region. Mr Saldo had previously warned of a threat to the dam, then downplayed the possibility of major damage and the risk of severe flooding.
Residents collect food aid in Mykolayiv region, Ukraine.
Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images
A damaged apartment in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
Photo: hannibal hanschke/Shutterstock
“This decision will make it possible to create a multi-layered defense that will make it possible to repel an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces and protect our civilian population,” he said. Civilians resettled deeper into Russian territory would receive a one-off payment of 100,000 rubles, equivalent to about $1,600, and an apartment stipend, he added.
Military analysts have said Ukraine was unlikely to attack the causeway, a move that would make it more difficult to retake territory in the region.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Russian claims about the dam served several other purposes, including driving civilians out of areas Ukraine may soon retake.
“[There] not a scenario in which it would be beneficial for Ukraine to blow up the dam,” the institute wrote.
Darkened streets in Dnipro, Ukraine, during planned power outages.
Photo: hannibal hanschke/Shutterstock
write to Ian Lovett at [email protected] and Georgi Kantchev at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8