'Drones Act Swiftly, Unlike Politicians' - Moscow Attacks While Washington Stalls

Zarina Zabrisky reports from Ukraine on last night's massive air assault.

Smoke and fire rise over the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant after Russian attacks in Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday March 22 2024. Photo: Associated Press/Alamy

As Moscow launched its largest air assault since the full-scale invasion, crippling energy infrastructure, reports of US officials urging Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil facilities have heightened tensions and concerns are mounting over possible Russian escalation.

The Largest Russian Massive Air Strike on Ukrainian Energy System

Early on 22 March 2024, Russian troops carried out the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy system since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. More than one million Ukrainian civilians lost their electricity supply.

Strikes and outages were reported in seven regions, with the Kharkiv region in the east experiencing the most severe consequences. In the city of Kharkiv, every single power facility was targeted. The residents lost electricity, water supply, and communications, and metro and electric transport services were halted. In Odesa, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Poltava, and Donetsk regions critical energy infrastructure were also targeted.

The Zaporizhzhia region military administration reported that the Russian military launched almost 20 rockets at the city of Zaporizhzhia. Infrastructure was destroyed and damaged, as well as ten private houses and more than 35 multi-story buildings. By midday 22 March, five were reported killed,15 injured, with three missing.

In the west, Khmelnytskyi, 2 were killed and at least 8 wounded, and the rescue works were ongoing. Kyiv residents spent the second night in a row hiding in subway stations from Russian missiles.