Russian attack cuts power to around 150,000 in Chernihiv

A Russian attack on an energy facility in Ukraine’s northern city of Chernihiv and surrounding district on Friday cut power to around 150,000 residents, according to the regional electricity distribution company.

Workers were actively seeking to restore power supply to consumers in the area, the company said in an update via Telegram.

Ukrainian air defenses were also working to repel a Russian attack in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on Friday morning, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

The update comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed strikes by Ukrainian defense forces on a key missile components facility in the Russian city of Kirov as well as an attack on an oil facility nearly 1,350 kilometers (838.9 miles) away.

Zelenskyy said the Kirov facility supplied components for Russia’s aircraft and missile systems, describing the attack as “entirely justified” given that those same components had been used to target Ukrainian cities and communities.

“There were other successful strikes as well. Importantly, the operation against Russian logistics, which supplies the occupying army with drone components, navigation equipment, and military gear, remains underway,” Zelenskyy said Friday in a social media post.

Ukraine has targeted major logistics centers on Russian territory over the past week, including multiple attacks on facilities belonging to Wildberries, a retail giant that is often compared to U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.

The attacks, which signal a new phase in the more than four-year Russia-Ukraine war, appear designed to severely disrupt Moscow’s supply chains and increase the financial burden facing the country’s businesses and state budget.

Separately, the European Union on Thursday unveiled its largest sanctions package against Russia in four years, targeting almost 220 individuals and entities as it seeks to squeeze the country’s economy and its capacity to prolong its full-scale invasion.

“We’re hitting over a hundred banks and crypto operators, 40+ vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, and several oil refineries in Russia and Belarus,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

“Russia will only negotiate to end its illegal war and stop killing civilians if it is pressured to do so. Sanctions add to this pressure,” she added.