Russia’s defence ministry says it is gearing up for large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a tit-for-tat response to strikes by Kyiv. “Russian forces have begun preparations for massive strikes against facilities in Ukraine’s energy sector in response to the ongoing attacks by the Kyiv regime on civilian infrastructure and on Russia’s oil and energy complex,” it said on Telegram on Sunday. Last winter, Moscow repeatedly hit Ukrainian power plants, devastating the country’s energy sector and plunging millions of people into cold and darkness in sub-zero temperatures.
In comes as the death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv rose to 38, with four people still missing, making it the deadliest attack of the year, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday. The Friday night strike on the warehouse, which Ukrainian officials said was storing ammunition, sparked massive explosions and fires that swept through dozens of nearby homes and buildings in the village of Myla.
Russian strikes on Kyiv on Saturday killed a 2-year-old girl and injured 12 others, the capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said. In the village of Bilbasovka in eastern Ukraine, a 13-year-old and an adult died after Russian troops dropped bombs on private houses on Sunday, according to local official Vadim Lyakh.
