Ukraine recovers from Russian barrage and restores power

Kyiv – The Ukrainian capital restored most of its electricity supply on Friday, officials said, as the country once again responded swiftly and defiantly to recent events Russian missile and drone fire target critical infrastructure.

In a Russian tactic well-known since last fall, Kremlin forces attacked Ukraine from afar amid a months-long battlefield stalemate on the front line in the eastern territories. The obvious goal is to weaken Ukraine’s resolve and force the Ukrainian government to negotiate peace on Moscow’s terms.

Ukrainian authorities struggled to stem the fallout from the bombardment, which is part of a recurring cycle of city destruction and repair that has seen little change over the year the war who recently entered her second year.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an assessment that “these missile strikes will not undermine Ukraine’s will or improve Russia’s frontline positions.”

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the Russians are attacking civilian infrastructure because they cannot efficiently attack Ukrainian military assets.

“The Russians lack data on the locations of Ukrainian troops and weapons, so they target civilian infrastructure and use the same old methods of attacking civilians to sow fear and panic in society,” he said. “Ukraine survived the winter and Russia’s spring strikes in the energy system make little sense.”

Electricity and water have been restored in Kiev, said Serhii Popko, the head of the city’s military administration. Popko said about 30% of consumers in the capital are left without heating and repair work is underway.

Power has been restored to more than nine out of 10 consumers in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, local officials said, while power has been restored to a third of consumers in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia region.

The Russian attack was the largest such attack in three weeks, using more than 80 Russian missiles and exploding drones.

The barrage, which also damaged residential buildings, killed six people and left hundreds of thousands without heat or running water. The salvo was notable for the range of munitions used by the Kremlin forces, including hypersonic Kinzhal cruise missiles, which are among the most sophisticated weapons in the Russian arsenal.

Despite this, bombing raids on energy infrastructure, which gathered pace last fall, have lessened.

“The gap between attack waves is likely to increase because Russia now has to stockpile a critical mass of newly produced missiles directly from industry,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an assessment on Friday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes were in retaliation for a recent occurrence to the Bryansk region in western Russia by alleged Ukrainian saboteurs. Ukraine denied the allegation and warned that Moscow could use the allegations to justify stepping up its own attacks.

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