A Ukrainian city has been left in total blackout, with hundreds of thousands of people affected, following a “massive” missile and drone attack from Russian forces.
Chernihiv electricity-generating facilities were hit by direct strikes as part of an assault involving over one hundred Shahed drones, each with a 50-kilo warhead, and six ballistic missiles.
Reports say between 10 to 16 people were injured, including a 10-year-old girl, and across the broader Chernihiv region, four people are reported to have been killed.
The blackout has left water pumping stations without power, and residents have been told to stock up on bottled water, with some needing to rely on emergency services to access supplies.
Electrical engineers were also delayed in their initial response to begin trying to restore power, as attacks were ongoing and they could not safely start to work.
The Chernihiv region shares a border with both Russia and Belarus, and has become the latest target in an increasing series of attacks from the Kremlin, as peace talks continue to stall.
“For around half a year we have been experiencing targeted strikes on the energy infrastructure in our region…the number of attacks has significantly increased over the last two months,” deputy head of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, Andriy Podorvan, told the BBC.
“I can only see strikes on civilian infrastructure.”
