Ukraine scrambles to restore electricity after Russian missile barrage
3 min read . Updated: 23 Oct 2022, 06:50 PM IST 
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Ukraine was working to restore electricity across the country Sunday following a Russian attack on critical infrastructure, as Moscow’s grip on the southern Kherson region weakened.
Almost 1.5 million Ukrainians were left without power after Russia unleashed a volley of cruise missiles on Saturday—the latest salvo in a campaign to deprive the country of heat and light as winter sets in.
Officials in Kyiv say the recent attacks, which have damaged nearly a third of the country’s energy infrastructure, seek to undermine Ukrainians’ will to fight and provoke a humanitarian crisis. There were power outages in more than 10 regions of Ukraine as a result of Saturday’s attack, which energy-grid operator Ukrenergo said was one of the most destructive to date.
In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainians wouldn’t be deterred. “Russian propagandists are lying when they say that this terror against our infrastructure and people can somehow slow down the active actions of our military," he said.
Ukraine has urged residents to limit their electricity use to reduce pressure on the grid, while calling on Western partners to expedite the delivery of weapons systems to protect its skies.
Sixteen Iranian-made drones were shot down by Ukrainian air defense overnight, according to the country’s air-force command, including 11 over the southern port city of Mykolaiv.
The recent shift toward targeting Ukrainian infrastructure with cruise missiles and drones comes as Russian forces struggle on the battlefield, prompting criticism of Moscow’s approach to the war.
After months of strikes against Russian supply lines in the occupied Kherson region, Kyiv’s strategy of squeezing the invading forces is gradually taking effect.
Ukraine’s armed forces on Saturday said Russian troops had abandoned the villages of Charivne and Chkalove in the Kherson region, while officers and medical personnel were also evacuated from the town of Beryslav.
In a rare pessimistic take on the war effort, the commander of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine acknowledged last week that Moscow’s position in the southern Kherson region was tenuous. He said “difficult decisions" might have to be taken, without elaborating.
The recently appointed Gen. Sergei Surovikin said Ukraine had damaged the main bridge used to supply Russian forces in Kherson and a crossing over a dam to the northeast. The priority now is to preserve civilians and military personnel, he said.
Having given civilians the option to leave this week, Russian-installed authorities in Kherson told residents on Saturday to leave the city immediately “because of the tense situation on the front line."
Moscow sent thousands of soldiers, including some of its best units, to reinforce its defenses in the Kherson region. Ukraine has hampered the Kremlin’s ability to keep those troops supplied by using U.S.-provided long-range rockets to blow up bridges, ammunition dumps and logistics centers.
If Russia’s military is forced to abandon the city—the only Ukrainian provincial capital captured since its February invasion of the country—it would be a significant blow to the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin feted Kherson as new Russian territory in a ceremony in Moscow less than a month ago following a staged vote on the region’s illegal annexation.
A major Ukrainian advance on the southern front would also demonstrate the ability of Kyiv’s forces to take even well-entrenched Russian positions.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces were likely preparing to destroy the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in order to flood and widen the Dnipro River to delay any Ukrainian advances.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text