Ukraine has carried out a series of attacks on three drilling platforms belonging to Russian oil giant Lukoil in the Caspian Sea, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army announced today, Beta news agency reports.
The targeted facilities are the Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin and Valery Graifer platforms, the Parisian newspaper Monde reported on its website.
Kiev claims that these oil facilities are actively used to support the war effort and logistical operations of Russian forces in the region.
However, the General Staff did not provide a detailed assessment of the extent of material damage or potential casualties.
In December, Ukraine had already attacked the Filanovsky oil field.
Local authorities: More than 1.000 apartment buildings in Kiev still without heating
More than 1.000 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kiev are still without heat after a devastating Russian attack earlier this week, local authorities said on Monday, Reuters reported.
Russia has stepped up its bombing of Ukraine's energy system since it invaded the neighboring country in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia launched 1.100 drones, more than 890 guided aerial bombs and over 50 missiles, including ballistic, cruise and medium-range missiles, against Ukraine over the past week.
On Friday, a rocket attack on Kiev left virtually the entire city without electricity and heating in the midst of a sudden cold snap, and only today did the authorities manage to restore water supply and partially restore electricity and heating.
The network suffers from accumulated damage
Zelensky said Russia deliberately waited for the freezing weather conditions to further worsen the situation for the Ukrainian people, calling it "cynical Russian terror aimed specifically at civilians." Moscow has not yet commented on the allegations.
The fourth winter of the war could be the coldest and darkest yet, as cumulative damage to the power grid has pushed utilities to the brink of collapse, while temperatures, already below minus 12 degrees Celsius, could drop to minus 20 degrees later this week.
"Repair work is underway. However, the energy supply situation in the capital remains very difficult," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post on Telegram.
"According to forecasts, the severe frosts will not subside in the coming days. Therefore, the difficult situation in the capital will continue," he added.
There is not a single day this week without an attack.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry said Russian forces had again attacked the country's energy system overnight, briefly causing power outages in the southeastern regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia.
"Not a single day has passed this week without attacks on energy facilities and critical infrastructure. A total of 44 attacks have been recorded," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said in a post on Telegram.
Sviridenko said that the restoration of heat and electricity supplies is taking place at record speed, adding that significant improvements in Kiev will take time, but could be achieved by Thursday.
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