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Ukrainian air defences were activated nationwide as Moscow intensified its assault, leading to widespread blackouts, water shortages, and mounting civilian casualties read more
 "Drone, missile strikes pound Ukraine, kill 4 as Russia targets energy lifelines")
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, on August 26, 2024. Reuters
Russia has launched a fresh wave of deadly strikes across Ukraine, killing at least four deaths in the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia, just a day after a major assault on the country’s energy grid led to widespread blackouts and water shortages.
Ukrainian authorities issued air raid alerts nationwide as Russian bombers took to the skies. Ukraine’s air force confirmed the takeoff of several Tu-95MS bombers from the Engels airfield in western Russia early on Tuesday (August 27), according to Guardian.
Emergency services reported that two people were killed and five others injured in an overnight strike that hit a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih. In a separate attack, two more people were killed and four injured in drone strikes on Zaporizhzhia, east of Kryvyi Rih.
A barrage of drones
On Monday, Russia unleashed hundreds of drones and missiles across Ukraine, killing at least seven people and further damaging the country’s already fragile energy grid. Ukrainian officials reported widespread blackouts and water shortages, including in Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow had launched at least 127 missiles and 109 drones in what he described as “one of the largest Russian attacks.” Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk stated that 102 missiles and 99 drones were intercepted and shot down.
Ukraine’s state-owned electricity supplier, Ukrenergo, announced emergency power cuts to stabilise the system, while train services faced significant disruptions.
Aerial attacks on Kyiv countered
In the capital, Kyiv, air defence systems were activated multiple times overnight to counter missiles and drones targeting the city. Reuters witnesses reported hearing at least three rounds of explosions during the night.
Air raid alerts were in effect across Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, and other central and eastern regions of Ukraine from late Monday (August 26) into Tuesday morning.
Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region where Kryvyi Rih is located, said on Telegram that two civilians might still be trapped under the rubble of the hotel. The attack also damaged six shops, four high-rise buildings, and eight cars, he added.
Attacks on energy infrastructure
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, particularly targeting energy facilities, have become a hallmark of the conflict. The Russian defence ministry confirmed in a statement on Monday that it had targeted energy facilities, claiming they were being used to support Ukraine’s military production complex.
However, the US-based Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, suggested in a report on Monday that Russia likely lacks the capacity to sustain such massive strikes at a similar scale with regularity.
Meanwhile, Poland, a Nato member, reported that its airspace may have been violated during the barrage, likely by a drone. Gen. Maciej Klisz, Poland’s operational commander of the armed forces, said that the object was detected by at least three radiolocation stations.
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