Russia pounds power facilities around Kyiv, damages major bridge

Russian forceshammered energy infrastructure around Ukraine's capital with missiles and drones overnight, straining Kyiv's power supply and heating systems as temperatures headed towards zero, officials said on ‌Saturday. Explosions rocked the city as Russia fired multiple waves of ballistic missiles, several of which hit and damaged the Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Strikes on energy facilities outside Kyiv — including systems sending power from two nuclear plants ‌to the city and Ukraine's central regions — caused serious damage, the energy ministry said. "The capital is facing serious difficulties with ‌its electricity, water, and heat supplies," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X, adding that substations in five other regions were also hit.

He said Russia had launched 36 ballistic missiles, only four of which were intercepted, according to Ukraine's air force. It added that air defences had downed 149 out of ⁠172 drones. AT ​LEAST TWO PEOPLE REPORTED KILLED

At ⁠least two people were killed and around a dozen others wounded across Ukraine in the overnight attacks, which also damaged homes, businesses and non-residential ⁠buildings, authorities said. Moscow's defence ministry said it carried out a massive strike on what it described as targets in Ukraine's military-industrial sector, as well ​as energy and transport infrastructure in and around Kyiv.

Russia has stepped up air attacks on Ukraine as its ⁠ground offensive has largely stalled, pounding energy infrastructure in major cities with difficult-to-intercept missiles and drones more than 4-1/2 years into its full-scale invasion. It has expanded its ⁠campaign ​in recent weeks to target Kyiv's bridges, snarling traffic in the city of more than 3 million people.

Saturday's strikes come days before a new round of three-way talks in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian and Russian officials, as part of a ⁠US-backed peace push that has so far yielded few results. "Russia is preparing for trilateral talks by launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine's ⁠critical infrastructure," Zelenskiy said on ⁠X.

The attacks also follow recent US midterm elections that have raised hopes in Ukraine for stronger support against Russia's war from a Democratic-controlled Congress. "We are counting on the US Congress to ‌give more attention to ‌Ukraine, because Russia keeps increasing the number of its attacks," ​Zelenskiy added.

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)