Missile barrage on Ukraine hits power supply and Black Sea oil

A large Russian strike killed at least eight; Ukraine's own hits on Russian oil deepened the war's toll on energy.

Russia fired a large wave of ballistic missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, according to officials. The dead included four in Kharkiv, an elderly woman in Kyiv, two in Zaporizhzhia and one in Sumy. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the Kyiv raid as one of the most massive ballistic attacks since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine's military said air defences over Kyiv downed 18 of 41 missiles and intercepted 108 drones, with the capital hit by Iskander and hypersonic Zircon missiles alongside 125 drones. Across the past week, Zelensky said, Russia used roughly 1,450 strike drones, more than 1,640 guided bombs and 99 missiles. A Turkish-owned civilian cargo ship carrying grain was struck in the Black Sea, killing five.

For a movement tracking basic needs, this is a setback: strikes on cities and infrastructure degrade the grids and energy supply that homes depend on. The energy front cuts both ways. Ukraine said it hit three Russian oil tankers and three depots in the Stavropol region, and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium reported its Novorossiysk terminal was struck and two tankers damaged, suspending oil loading with no injuries or spills.

Handle the numbers with care. Casualty and weapons figures come from Ukrainian officials and Zelensky; Russia had not commented on the grain-ship strike. Ukraine also said earlier this month that nearly 43% of Russia's oil-refining capacity had been disabled by long-range drones — a claim the BBC says it has not independently verified.

Source: BBC World