On the morning of 17 November, Ukraine again came under a massive Russian missile attack. Air alarms have been announced in all Ukrainian oblasts, meaning that Ukrainians should seek shelter. Launches of Kh-101 missiles from Tu-95 bombers were reported in Russia’s Volgograd Oblast.
An infrastructure facility was hit in Odesa Oblast, and two infrastructure objects were struck in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the oblast heads reported. As of 11:40, 14 victims, including a 15-year old girl, were reported as a result of the strike in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. They are in the hospital.
Zelenskyy publishes video of a Russian missile strike on Dnipro:
"More proof how terrorists want peace. Morning. A peaceful city, ppl try to live a normal life, go to work. A missile strike! Terrorist state really just wants to bring Ukrainians as much pain&suffering as possible" pic.twitter.com/BEoMyDAPqi— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) November 17, 2022
Critical infrastructure objects were also hit in the Kharkiv Oblast, with three workers of he enterprises injured.
As well, launches of Iranian-made Shahed drones were reported from the territory of Belarus. Shahed kamikaze drones were also moving in the direction of Mykolaiv, Oblast Head Vitaliy Kim reported.
Critical situation with energy systems
This attack comes two days after a massive Russian strike on Ukrainian power infrastructure on Monday, following which extreme power outages rolled over Ukraine and some regions were left totally without power.
The situation with every systems is “critical,” according to CEO DTEK Odesa Grids Dmytro Hryhoriev. He said that houses and streets, on the power grids of which there are no critical facilities, will not receive electricity until the situation stabilizes.
Currently, 70% of clients of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy company, are without power.
Emergency power cuts are planned all over Ukraine today.
The strikes of 15 November inflicted massive blows to Ukraine’s power system already.
Lviv Oblast Head Maksym Kozytskyi informed that it will take about a year to restore the power system of the Western-Ukrainian region. He said that two of three attacks of 15 November were repeated attacks on power facilities in the region and caused critical damage to three objects.
It will take 8-12 months to restore the operation of power facilities in Lviv region to pre-war levels.
Currently, only 30% of clients in the Lviv oblast can use electricity simultaneously. All relevant services are working to increase this figure, but residents of Lviv region are asked to consume electricity sparingly.
The EU had decided earlier to allocate €25.5 million for the restoration of energy facilities in Ukraine.
Russia hits Ukraine’s gas extraction facilities, Pivdenmash factory
Speaking at the Kyiv international economic forum, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Russia is carrying out strikes on Ukraine’s gas production facilities and on the Pivdenmash Machine-Building Plant in Dnipro.
The plant, also known by its Soviet name Yuzhmash, is an enterprise producing rocket and space equipment and technologies for defense, scientific and economic purposes.
Strikes on Ukraine’s gas production facilities were confirmed by Ukraine’s state gas operator Naftogaz.
Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov reported on Facebook that gas extraction infrastructure in the east of Ukraine was damaged, with some objects damaged and others destroyed.