Moscow renews attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector and Kiev fires drones over southern Russia

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired missiles into Ukraine overnight, an offensive that appeared to target the country’s energy infrastructure. Additionally, Moscow said its air defenses intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones in the southern Krasnodar region.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Saturday that Russia fired 34 missiles at Ukraine overnight, 21 of which were shot down by air defense forces.

In a post on Telegram, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko reported that energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk in the south and Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv in the west were attacked and an engineer was injured.

Private energy operator DTEK said four of its thermal plants were damaged and there were “casualties”, but it did not provide further details.

Earlier this month, Russia stepped up its operations against Ukrainian energy facilities in a massive missile and drone attack that destroyed one of the country’s largest power plants and damaged others.

Ukraine demanded more air defense systems from its Western allies to prevent such actions. At a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group on Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that his country would supply Kiev with additional ammunition and equipment for its air defense teams.

Further east, a psychiatric hospital was damaged and one person was injured after an overnight Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Photos from the scene show a large crater in the facility and patients sheltering in the hallway. A 53-year-old woman was injured, according to Oleh Sinihubov, governor of the region with the same name.

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted 66 drones over Krasnodar province in the south of the country. Two other drones were shot down over the Moscow-annexed Crimea peninsula.

The governor of Krasnodar, Veniamin Kondratyev, said that the targets of Kiev’s forces were an oil refinery and infrastructure facilities, but he did not report any casualties or major material damage. The provincial department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported a fire at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban during the attack.

Ukrainian officials usually do not comment on attacks on Russian soil, but Kiev’s Energy Ministry said on Saturday that two Krasnodar oil refineries had been hit by drone strikes.