Emergency power outages have been introduced across Ukraine following Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, state energy company Ukrenergo reported on February 17. Industrial enterprises and businesses were the first to be affected, though some residential consumers have also lost electricity. Earlier, Ukrainian energy company DTEK announced that emergency blackouts had begun in the capital, as well as in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Authorities in the Kyiv region reported that Russian attacks damaged private homes, vehicles, a factory, and warehouse facilities in four districts, though no critical infrastructure was hit. One person was injured. Officials in the capital have not yet reported damage within the city, though Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defenses were activated during the night against Russian drones.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, drone strikes damaged warehouses and sparked fires, though no casualties were reported, according to local officials. In Kharkiv, Russian drones struck two neighborhoods, and debris from a downed drone damaged 14 private homes. Elsewhere in the region, warehouses, administrative buildings, and vehicles sustained damage. In the Sumy region, a Russian drone strike hit an auto service station and vehicles, while in the Poltava region, a house was damaged, though no injuries were reported.
Russian shelling has partially knocked out power in Kherson, and water supply shutdowns have also been introduced, local officials reported. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to local officials, Russian artillery hit the city of Marhanets, injuring four people, one of whom was hospitalized. Regional authorities reported damage to industrial and municipal facilities, a school, an administrative building, stores, cafes, residential buildings, and vehicles, as well as a power transmission line.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that between the evening of February 16 and the morning of February 17, Ukrainian forces shot down 83 of 147 Russian drones, while another 59 failed to reach their targets and crashed without causing damage. Drones were intercepted over the Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa regions.