Power cuts across Ukraine after fresh Russian strikes

KYIV, Ukraine - Fresh Russian strikes on Saturday targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine's west, national energy operator Ukrenergo said, with officials in several regions reporting outages.

Russians "carried out another missile attack on energy facilities of the main networks of Ukraine's western regions. The scale of the damage is comparable or may exceed the consequences of the attack on October 10-12," Ukrenergo said on social media.

Russian forces rained more than 80 missiles on cities across Ukraine on October 10, according to Kyiv, in apparent retaliation for an explosion that damaged a key bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to Russia

Energy restrictions were "forcibly applied" in several regions, including the capital Kyiv and its surrounding region, Ukrenergo said.

"Ukrenergo specialists are taking all measures to restore electricity supply as soon as possible," the operator added.

In western Ukraine, electricity and water supplies were disrupted in parts of the Volyn region, according to its governor. The city of Khmelnitskyi was without power and the city council called on residents to brace for water shortages.

In Rivne, also in the west, governor Vitaliy Koval said attacks damaged electrical substations.

Power outages were also reported in the southwestern Odessa region following "two missile strikes at the region's energy infrastructure", governor Maksym Marchenko said.

The governor of Kirovograd in central Ukraine called on local businesses and residents to reduce electricity use following attacks on "important" energy facilities in the Kropyvnytskyi and Golovanivskyi districts. — Agence France-Presse