KYIV, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Russian forces have destroyed a large energy facility in Ukraine’s second-biggest city Kharkiv, the mayor said on Thursday, the latest target of a winter air campaign by Moscow that has plunged millions of Ukrainians into darkness and cold.
Russia has attacked the power grid and other energy facilities while pressing a battlefield offensive that has left Kyiv on the back foot as it faces U.S. pressure to secure peace.
Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, did not specify what sort of facility had been hit, but said emergency crews were on the scene and working around the clock.
Kharkiv, just 25 km from the Russian border, has been regularly targeted by drones, missiles and glide bombs throughout the war, which enters its fifth year next month.
Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said officials were still trying to assess the extent of damage from Thursday’s attack.
Power outages and cuts to heating and water in major cities have worsened over the past week as Ukraine struggles with a cold snap that has overwhelmed the already hobbled energy system.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Thursday that around 300 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital remain without heat after a January 9 attack knocked out heating to half the city’s high-rises.
Russia has also stepped up attacks on ports in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region. A missile strike on Thursday injured one person and damaged shipping containers in the city of Chornomorsk, said deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba.
(Reporting by Dan PeleschukEditing by Daniel Flynn and Peter Graff)
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