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Ukraine: Russian strike leaves 100,000 without power

July 6, 2024

An energy facility in northeastern Ukraine's Sumy region has been damaged in an overnight Russian strike and water has been cut. Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have taken another village in the eastern Donetsk region.

https://p.dw.com/p/4hxto
Residential building partially damaged by Russian strike in Sumy, Ukraine
Russia has stepped up its strikes on northeastern Ukraine, including the Sumy regionImage: ERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images

Some 100,000 people were left without power after a Russian drone strike hit an energy facility in the northeastern Sumy region, Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed its forces had captured a village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

What do we know about the strikes?

National grid operator Ukrenergo said the energy facility in the region was damaged, forcing blackouts in the regional capital, called Sumy.

A Russian strike also hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off the water supply.

Repair teams were working to restore supplies. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Ukraine's air force said it downed 24 of 27 Russian drones fired on 12 regions.

Russian state agency RIA cited a local pro-Kremlin leader as saying that Russia's forces hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city of Sumy. The report could not be independently verified.

Since March, Russian forces have stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, making it increasingly harder for Ukraine to to provide power to the country. As a result, Ukrenergo has planned several blackouts as electricity imports could not cover the deficit.

Ukraine's war is a battle for trillions in resources

Russia takes Donetsk village

Also on Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Sokil in the eastern Donetsk region.

The settlement lies some 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the regional capital of Donetsk, which has been controlled by pro-Russian separatist forces since 2014.

Ukrainian authorities have said that the fiercest fighting in the war is taking place in the Donetsk region.

Russia claimed to have annexed the entirety of the Donetsk region in September 2022, alongside three other regions, but does not control it in full. Of the four regions, only Luhansk is largely under Russian control.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw its forces from the four regions in exchange for peace.

The referendums that preceded Russia's claimed annexation of the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were deemed illegal by a UN General Assembly resolution and have been condemned by several countries and rights groups.

sdi/rm (AP, Reuters, AFP)