Russian cities hit by power outages as Ukraine turns tables on Putin

Russian cities have been hit by widespread power outages after a Ukrainian drone barrage struck the country’s Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions overnight.

Kyiv’s drone attacks left 90 percent of the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, without electricity and water, Telegram channel Mash, which says it is linked to Russia’s security services, reported on Monday.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry also said Monday that about 90 percent of the Belgorod region, including the cities of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, is currently without electricity.

Attacks targeting critical infrastructure have typically been part of the Russian military playbook in the war. A Financial Times report published on June 5 claimed Russia had taken out more than half of Ukraine’s power-generation capacity since invading the country on February 24, 2022.

The press service of local electricity company Belgorodenergo told state-run news agency RIA Novosti that due to a “technological disruption” caused by an “external influence” there are “temporary interruptions in the supply of electricity to consumers” in the region.

The head of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, warned residents on Monday that there may be “problems with electricity” in the area after a drone attack.

“Due to technological failures on the power transmission line in neighboring regions, a shortage of electricity capacity may occur in the Kursk region,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

In the neighboring Voronezh region, electricity supply has also been limited in several districts, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Monday.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukrainian forces used 36 drones to attack the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions.

Ukraine has long fallen victim to Russian drone attacks targeting its critical infrastructure.

Russian forces have launched Iranian Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as kamikaze drones, to target civilian and energy infrastructure extensively throughout President Vladimir Putin‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Such attacks, which are still ongoing today, have triggered power outages throughout the country, plunging citizens into darkness.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, assessed in early June that Russia is inflicting significant damage on Ukraine’s energy grid that could affect Kyiv’s war fighting capabilities.

“Russian missile and drone strikes have caused significant long-term damage to Ukraine’s energy grid, and Ukraine will reportedly face even greater energy constraints in summer 2024,” the think tank said.

“Russia will likely continue periodic, large-scale strikes against [the] energy infrastructure to cause significant long-term damage that degrades Ukrainian war fighting capabilities, while setting conditions for pronounced humanitarian pressures in winter 2024–2025.”

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