Russia's Cluster Bomb Attacks on Power Facilities Cause Blackouts Affecting 1 Million in Ukraine

Ukraine Preemptively Cuts Power Grid Connected to Nuclear Plant

Ukraine reported on the 28th (local time) that Russia bombed power infrastructure across Ukraine with cluster munitions, causing massive power outages and affecting more than one million people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized via Telegram that from the previous day until the morning of the 28th, "attacks using cluster munitions were confirmed in several regions," calling it "Russia's terrorist tactic targeting civilian infrastructure and a very despicable act of escalating tension."

Cluster munitions contain hundreds of small bombs, causing casualties over a wide area, and are considered a representative inhumane weapon.

According to major foreign media and the Ukrainian government, the western Ukrainian regions of Rivne and Lutsk were subjected to Russian cluster munition airstrikes, resulting in power outage damage affecting over one million people nationwide.

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Accordingly, Ukrainian power companies, including the state-owned Ukrenergo, are coping with power supply issues through emergency blackouts.

Missiles were also dropped on civilian business facilities, infrastructure, and residential complexes in the northeastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Additionally, drone debris fell on a business site in the capital Kyiv, causing minor facility damage.

The Ukrainian Air Force stated that from the previous night until the morning of the 28th, Russia launched 188 projectiles toward Ukraine, of which 79 missiles and 35 drones targeting energy facilities were shot down.

Among the projectiles not shot down, 62 drones either evaded radar tracking or were neutralized by electronic warfare equipment, it added.

As simultaneous damage occurred at energy facilities on the same day, Ukraine cut off part of the power grid connected to nuclear power plants to ensure nuclear safety. The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy explained that during the partial power grid shutdown, power supplied by nuclear plants became unavailable, increasing power supply disruptions, but efforts are underway to stabilize the power shortage.