Russia launches attacks on Ukraine's energy structures

Kyiv, Ukraine,Apr.1: A Russian cruise missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine’s western Lviv region killed one man, while another man died in an attack in the northeast officials said Sunday.

The attack in Lviv destroyed a building and sparked a fire, Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on social media app Telegram. He said that rescue operations were being conducted.

In the Kharkiv region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said that an air attack killed an 19-year-old man Sunday after a projectile hit a gas station.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands in Ukraine’s Odesa region were left without power Sunday after debris from a downed Russian drone caused a blaze at an energy facility, Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Some 170,000 homes suffered power outages as a result of the attack, said Ukraine’s largest private electricity operator, DTEK.

The Ukrainian air force said that it shot down nine of the 11 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia overnight, as well as nine out of 14 cruise missiles.

Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent days, causing significant damage in several regions.

Ukrainian energy company Centrenergo announced Saturday that the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant, one of the largest in the northeastern Kharkiv region, was completely destroyed following Russian shelling last week. Power outage schedules were still in place for around 120,000 people in the region, where 700,000 had lost electricity after the plant was hit on March 22.

In a message Sunday to mark the date when some of Ukraine’s Christians celebrate Easter, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the country to persevere.

“There is not a day or night right now when Russian terror does not try to shatter our lives. Last night, we once again saw rockets and Shaheds launched against our people,” he said.

“We defend ourselves, we persevere; our spirit does not give up and knows that death can be averted. Life can win,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine’s Catholic, Protestant, and Greek Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter Sunday according to the Gregorian calendar. The country’s religious majority, Orthodox Christians, follow the Julian calendar, which in 2024 places Easter on May 5.

Many of Ukraine’s Orthodox Christians began marking Christmas in line with the Gregorian calendar on Dec. 25 in 2023, in a move adopted by some of the country’s churches to distance themselves from Russia. However, the dates for Easter and other religious holidays have so far remained unchanged.

In Russia, meanwhile, 10 Czech-made Vampire rockets landed in the border region of Belgorod on Sunday, the Ministry of Defense said. One woman was injured when a fire broke out following the attack, said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.