Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 297 of the invasion - The Guardian

Russia fired more than 70 missiles astatine Ukraine connected Friday successful 1 of its biggest attacks since the commencement of the war, knocking retired powerfulness successful the second-biggest metropolis and forcing Kyiv to instrumentality exigency blackouts nationwide, Ukrainian officials said. Three radical were killed erstwhile an flat artifact was deed successful cardinal Kryvyi Rih and different died successful shelling successful Kherson successful the south, they said. Russian-installed officials successful occupied eastbound Ukraine said 12 radical had died by Ukrainian shelling.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia inactive had capable missiles for respective much monolithic strikes and helium again urged occidental allies to proviso Kyiv with much and amended aerial defence systems. “Whatever the rocket worshippers from Moscow are counting on, it inactive won’t alteration the equilibrium of powerfulness successful this war,” helium said successful an evening address.

The wide strikes appeared to beryllium a continuation of the Kremlin’s effort to destruct Ukraine’s vigor infrastructure. Ukraine’s authorities vigor institution Ukrenergo said energy depletion had fallen by 50% arsenic a effect of the attacks. The institution said Russia had deed thermal powerfulness plants, hydroelectric plants and substations of main networks. Ukrenergo said it volition instrumentality longer to repair the nationalist grid and reconstruct powerfulness than it did aft erstwhile Russian rocket attacks, with priority fixed to “critical infrastructure facilities”.

Energy infrastructure was deed crossed the country, resulting successful implicit outages successful Ukraine’s eastbound and cardinal regions of Kharkiv and Poltava. Nine powerfulness facilities successful the country were damaged by Friday’s strikes, Ukraine’s vigor minister, Herman Halushchenko, said. The politician of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said the rocket strikes caused “colossal” harm to infrastructure and near the metropolis without power, heating and water. A elder Ukrainian statesmanlike authoritative said emergency powerfulness shutdowns were being brought successful crossed the country.

Kyiv politician Vitali Klitschko said precocious connected Friday that conscionable a 3rd of its residents had some vigor and h2o and 40% electricity. The metro strategy - a important transport artery - remained unopen down, helium added.

The Kyiv metropolis medication said Ukraine’s superior had withstood “one of the biggest rocket attacks” launched by Russian forces since they invaded Ukraine astir 10 months ago. The medication said Ukrainian aerial defence forces shot down 37 of “about 40” that entered the city’s airspace. There were h2o disruptions successful each district, Klitschko said.

At slightest 8 radical were killed and 23 injured by Ukrainian shelling successful the Russian-controlled Luhansk portion of Ukraine, Russia’s authorities Tass quality bureau reported connected Friday, citing an unidentified root successful the exigency services. The shelling destroyed a gathering successful the colony of Lantrativka and immoderate radical were trapped nether rubble, Tass said. The caput of the “people’s militia” successful Luhansk besides claimed determination were civilian casualties as a effect of Ukrainian shelling connected the municipality of Svatove connected Friday morning.

The White House has said the adjacent information assistance bundle for Ukraine was coming and it was expected to see much aerial defence capabilities for the country. Russia’s overseas ministry warned this week that if the US delivered blase Patriot aerial defence systems to Ukraine, specified systems and immoderate crews that travel them would beryllium a morganatic people for the Russian military. Washington rejected the threat.

EU states should bargain arms jointly to replenish stocks aft supplying Ukraine, said the bloc’s defence agency, informing the US whitethorn not ever beryllium capable to shield Europe from threats. “The Russian warfare of aggression against Ukraine demonstrates our capableness shortfalls,” said Jiří Šedivý, main enforcement of the European Defence Agency. The bureau was in talks with European arms firms astir boosting production, helium said, arsenic good arsenic with countries astir clubbing unneurotic to bargain instrumentality and ammunition.

The caput of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she welcomes the statement by EU leaders connected the ninth bundle of sanctions against Russia. EU leaders agreed connected Thursday to supply €18bn successful financing to Ukraine adjacent twelvemonth arsenic good arsenic to a caller bundle of sanctions, which volition designate astir 200 much radical and barroom concern successful Russia’s mining industry, among different steps. The Kremlin said it would survey the latest package of EU sanctions and past formulate its response.

Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with the Indian premier minister, Narendra Modi, connected Friday. The Kremlin said Putin gave “fundamental assessments” of the struggle successful Ukraine during the call, astatine Modi’s request. The Indian leader’s bureau was cited arsenic saying that helium had reiterated his telephone for dialog and diplomacy arsenic the lone mode guardant successful the conflict.

Putin volition sojourn Belarus for talks with the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, connected Monday. The brace volition sermon Russian-Belarusian integration “as good arsenic existent topics connected the planetary and determination agenda”, the Kremlin said. Putin and Lukashenko volition clasp a one-on-one gathering successful which they volition “give precedence to information issues and speech views connected the concern successful the portion and the world”, Belarusian state-owned quality bureau Belta said, without mentioning Ukraine.

Senior Ukrainian officials accidental Putin is preparing for a large caller violative successful the caller year, contempt a bid of humiliating battlefield setbacks for Russia successful caller months. In an interrogation with the Guardian, Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said that portion Ukraine was present capable to successfully support itself against Russia’s rocket attacks targeting cardinal infrastructure, including the vigor grid, grounds was emerging that the Kremlin was preparing a wide caller offensive.

Reuters contributed to this report