UPDATE - 2 injured in Russian attack on energy infrastructure, says Ukraine

ADDS STATEMENT BY RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least two people were injured on Saturday when Ukraine said Russia attacked its energy infrastructure in multiple regions of the country.

Ukraine’s power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement that Russia carried out an eighth attack on energy infrastructure in the country, damaging equipment at its facilities in the southwestern Zaporizhzhia and eastern Lviv regions.

The statement said that two Ukrenergo workers were injured in the Zaporizhzhia region, which Governor Ivan Fedorov also confirmed on Telegram, also reiterating Ukraine’s need for air defense systems.

Ukrenergo also said inspections at the affected facilities are underway and that work to restore energy supplies is ongoing.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry also said in a statement that overhead power lines in unspecified regions in the eastern part of the country were disconnected from the grid, leading to "a decrease in the load on the generating facility."

Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said on Telegram that a critical energy infrastructure facility in the region was hit during the attack, causing a fire that has since been extinguished with the involvement of 67 firefighters.

Elsewhere, local authorities reported damage to local infrastructure in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Explosions were also reported in the Vinnytsia and Volyn regions.

Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, claimed on Telegram that the country’s air defenses downed 12 out of 16 missiles as well as all 13 attack drones launched by Russia during the attack.

In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the country's armed forces launched strikes on energy facilities that "ensured the operation of enterprises of the military-industrial complex, as well as warehouses of ammunition and aviation weapons supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Western countries."

"The strike's objectives have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit," the statement added.