Moscow/Berlin, Oct 17 (EFE).- Russian attacks killed at least two people, including an ambulance driver, injured dozens and knocked out electricity supplies across parts of Ukraine on Saturday.
The intensified strikes came as Moscow welcomed US President Donald Trump’s suspension of key sanctions measures following an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on diesel supplies.
The latest strikes hit residential neighbourhoods and critical infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions, intensifying pressure on the country’s power network as winter approaches.
The attacks came amid renewed hostilities against energy facilities on both sides of the war, despite a proposed energy ceasefire promoted by Washington.
In the southern city of Kherson, a 64-year-old ambulance driver was killed and at least 22 people were injured when Russian forces struck the Korabelnyi district with eight guided aerial bombs early Saturday, according to Yaroslav Shanko, head of the city’s military administration.
The bombardment began at around 4 a.m. local time, hitting residential buildings and social infrastructure.
A second strike hit the area as medical teams arrived to assist the wounded, Shanko said. Those injured included a one-month-old baby and an 11-year-old child.
In the eastern city of Sloviansk, a Russian airstrike using FAB-250 high-explosive bombs killed one person and injured 10 others, according to Vadim Liakh, head of the local military administration.
The attack, which took place at around 3:40 a.m., damaged two multistory residential buildings, with authorities warning that people could still be trapped beneath the rubble.
The attacks also disrupted electricity supplies in western and west-central Ukraine.
In the Zhytomyr region, Russian combat drones struck critical infrastructure on Friday and Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands of electricity supply points without power, the regional energy company Zhytomyroblenergo said.
Regional governor Vitaliy Bunechko reported damage to several energy facilities, a foreign-invested company, a secondary school, an apartment building, and five private homes.
No casualties had been reported in the region at the time of his statement.
Further south, in the Vinnytsia region, a Russian attack described by regional authorities as one of the largest since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 damaged civilian and critical infrastructure, injured at least six people and disrupted electricity supplies.
The regional capital was left without power, Mayor Serhiy Morgunov said, while essential facilities switched to backup systems.
Energy workers and emergency services were deployed in both regions to assess the damage and restore electricity and water supplies.
The latest bombardments have heightened concerns about Ukraine’s ability to maintain electricity and heating as temperatures fall.
Kyiv had initially said it was prepared to observe an energy ceasefire proposed by Trump, but accused Moscow of continuing to attack its energy infrastructure before resuming strikes against Russian oil facilities.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences had shot down 610 Ukrainian drones overnight across Russian regions and the annexed Crimean peninsula.
The reported targets included the Moscow, Leningrad, Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions, as well as Krasnodar and Rostov in southern Russia and the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district east of the Urals.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 144 drones had been intercepted as they approached the capital.
The attacks prompted renewed closures at Moscow’s four main airports and disrupted operations at other airports in European Russia, according to the federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia.
The exchange of strikes came as Moscow welcomed Washington’s decision to suspend the application of key sanctions provisions targeting Russia.
Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian presidential envoy, described the move as a “historic moment”, arguing that it marked a shift away from confrontation towards economic cooperation between the two countries.
“Instead of sanctions and confrontation,” the White House had chosen “mutually beneficial cooperation and joint responsibility for global stability”, Dmitriev wrote on Telegram.
Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law on Sep. 18.
On Friday, he issued an executive order temporarily waiving a range of sanctions, restrictions and tariffs provided for under the legislation, citing US national interests. The law itself remains in force.
The measures authorized tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from major importers of Russian oil and natural gas, as well as countries accused of facilitating the evasion of sanctions on Russian oil.
The decision followed an agreement reached between Trump and Putin on Oct. 9 concerning Russian diesel supplies to international markets, intended to ease pressure on energy and fuel prices.
The suspension has drawn criticism from Ukraine, the European Union and lawmakers from both US political parties, who have questioned whether easing pressure on Moscow could bolster Russian energy revenues while its forces continue their offensive against Ukraine.
The diplomatic move and the intensifying attacks underscore the widening gap between Washington’s efforts to pursue economic engagement with Moscow and the continued devastation of civilian areas and energy infrastructure on the ground. EFE
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