Ukraine races to restore power grid

KYIV/MOSCOW — Ukraine worked to restore power after strikes across the country, warning there would be emergency blackouts once again in several regions, as Moscow blames Kyiv for blasts on Russian airfields.

Fresh power cuts were announced in all regions "due to the consequences of shelling", national electricity provider Ukrenergo said on Telegram.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of Ukrenergo, told a Ukrainian news program that the attacks were launched as the country enters a "peak frost" period.

"Our repairmen will be working on the energy system restoration," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "most" of the 70 missiles launched by Moscow were shot down, but the barrage still hit Ukraine's already battered infrastructure. Nearly half of Ukraine's energy system has already been damaged after months of strikes on power infrastructure.

As missiles rained down on Kyiv, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk, who arrived over the weekend on a four-day visit, had to move his meetings with activists into an underground shelter.

Kyiv, a city of about 3 million people, appeared to have escaped serious damage. But the Kyiv region, which does not include the capital and had a population of about 1.8 million before the conflict, was badly affected.

"In the coming days, about half of the region will be without electricity," said Oleksiy Kuleba, the region's governor, on the Telegram messaging app late on Monday.

Moscow denies its intent is to hurt civilians.

Tuesday's incident comes a day after Moscow accused its neighbor of carrying out deadly drone strikes on two airfields.

On Monday, Russia said three of its military personnel were killed in the drone attacks.

Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility.

Strategic base

One of the targets, the Engels Air Force Base near the city of Saratov, houses bomber planes that are part of Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

"The Kyiv regime, in order to disable Russian long-range aircraft, made attempts to strike with Soviet-made unmanned jet aerial vehicles at the military airfields Dyagilevo in the Ryazan region and Engels in the Saratov region," the Russian defense ministry said.

It said the drones, flying at low altitudes, were intercepted by air defenses and shot down. The wreckage caused slight damage to two aircraft and four people were wounded.

The ministry called it a "terrorist act" aimed at disrupting its long-range aviation.

In another development, the administration of US President Joe Biden will convene a virtual meeting on Thursday with oil and gas executives to discuss how the United States can support Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

"Together, we can help to boost Ukrainian resilience," wrote David Turk, US deputy secretary of energy, in a letter to oil and gas executives.

The meeting is being convened by the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response.

Agencies Via Xinhua