Russia launches massive drone and missile attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure
The Ukrainian energy holding DTEK reported that Russian forces launched another wave of attacks on Ukraine's power infrastructure overnight, targeting the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions. The message dated Saturday morning, March 15, describes the damage as significant, leaving some residents in these areas without electricity.
The night’s attacks also resulted in casualties. A 61-year-old woman in Odesa sustained facial injuries due to glass shards from the blast wave. She was hospitalized, according to Odesa Regional State Administration head Oleg Kiper, via Telegram. In another attack on Chornomorsk in the Odesa region, a 53-year-old man was also hospitalized with moderate injuries.
The state-owned Ukrainian railway company "Ukrzaliznytsia" reported attacks by Russian drones on railway energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia. "Reserve diesel locomotives have been dispatched to the affected zones with minimal train delays," the company noted in a Telegram message.
In the early hours of March 15, Russian forces unleashed a massive air assault on Ukraine, deploying two ballistic missiles and 178 attack drones. The Ukrainian Air Force stated in Telegram that Russia launched Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Russia's Kursk region and 178 Shahed-type drones from various locations, including Crimea.
Ukraine’s air defenses successfully intercepted 130 drones over regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Mykolaiv. An additional 38 drones were neutralized. The regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv suffered damage from the aerial onslaught.
Previous incidents, such as the strike on an Odesa energy facility on March 7, underscore a pattern of ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. On this occasion, the Poltava military administration reported collateral damage to a gas pipeline in the Myrhorod district. Debris from the strike wounded two individuals, including a child, and caused property damage.
As Russia's war on Ukraine surpasses three years, air strikes on Ukrainian cities have become an almost daily occurrence. Russian officials continue to maintain allegations that their military operations concentrate solely on military targets within Ukraine.