At least 8 killed as Russia launches massive attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure

A Russian strike on a nine-storey building in the city of Sumy in northern Ukraine killed eight people and wounded dozens, an official said Sunday, as Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack described by officials as the largest in recent months.

Among the eight killed in Sumy, 40 kilometres from the border with Russia, were two children, said UkrainianMinister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. More than 400 people were evacuated from the building.

The rescuers are checking every apartment looking for people who might still be in the damaged building.

"Every life destroyed by Russia is a big tragedy," Klymenko said.

The drone and missile attack, which targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, came as fears are mounting about Moscow's intentions to devastate Ukraine's power generation capacity ahead of the winter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across the country. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian defences shot down 144 out of a total of 210 air targets, Ukraine's air force reported later on Sunday.

"The enemy's target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children," Zelenskyy said.

Two more people were killed in the Odesa region, where the attack damaged energy infrastructure and disrupted power and water supplies, said local Gov. Oleh Kiper. Both victims were employees of Ukraine's state-owned power grid operator, Ukrenergo, the company said hours later.

The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv's City Military Administration, Serhii Popko.

One person was injured after the roof of a five-storey residential building caught fire in the capital Kyiv's historic centre, according to Popko.

A thermal power plant operated by private energy company DTEK was "seriously damaged," the company said.

Russian strikes have hammered Ukraine's power infrastructure since Moscow's all-out invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, prompting repeated emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts. Ukrainian officials have routinely urged Western allies to bolster the country's air defences to counter assaults and allow for repairs.

Explosions were heard across Ukraine on Sunday, including in Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country's west and central regions, according to local reports.

The operational command of Poland's armed forces wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Polish and allied aircraft, including fighter jets, have been mobilized in Polish airspace because of the "massive" Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine. The steps were aimed to provide safety in Poland's border areas, it said.

Russia's Defence Ministry on Sunday acknowledged carrying out a "mass" missile and drone attack on "critical energy infrastructure" in Ukraine, but it claimed all targeted facilities were tied to Kyiv's military industry.

Although Ukraine's nuclear plants were not directly impacted, several electrical substations on which they depend suffered further damage, the United Nations' nuclear energy watchdog said in a statement on Sunday. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, only two of Ukraine's nine operational reactors continue to generate power at full capacity.