As fighting continues between Russian invasion forces and increasingly aggressive Ukrainian defenders, Russia targeted a power station on Sunday causing widespread power outages across Ukraine.
The damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure comes as Kyiv forces have mounted a counteroffensive against Russian troops that have driven the Rusian military out of Ukraine’s northeastern territories, NPR reported.
The bombardment on Sunday ignited a massive fire at a power station on the western edge of Kharkiv. At least one person was killed in the incident.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy said that these were “deliberate and cynical missile strikes” in which Russia was targeting civilians in acts of terror.
To make matters worse for Ukraine, though, in a separate incident, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is in the southern region of Ukraine currently occupied by Russian forces, shut down to prevent a possible radiation disaster due to the nearby fighting, NPR reported.
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Together, the developments are considerable blows to the Ukrainian infrastructure.
In light of the counteroffensive that has been driving Russian forces out of the region, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said targeting of the power infrastructure on Sunday may have been “revenge by the Russian aggressor for the successes of our army at the front, in particular, in the Kharkiv region,” NPR reported.
Meanwhile, a blue-checked “Russia” Twitter account tweeted about Moscow night life, which some took as a sign of mockery after Russian forces blew the power throughout larges swaths of Ukraine.
“To night owls & late risers, Moscow is dearer than anything in the world, Boris Pasternak wrote in 1944. And he was right!” the Russia account tweeted.
? To night owls & late risers, Moscow is dearer than anything in the world, Boris Pasternak wrote in 1944. And he was right!
The Capital’s night streets have always evoked the mood for strolling & contemplation. Here is Moscow in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s & 1970s ? pic.twitter.com/wj16nLjYwV
— Russia ?? (@Russia) September 11, 2022
Despite the blows from Russian forces, however, Ukrainians have been fighting back in the northeast, and on Monday troops were able to go deeper into territory previously occupied by Russian forces, Reuters reported.
After Russia abandoned Izium, its main foothold in northeast Ukraine, Ukrainian general staff said on Monday that its forces had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just one day.
As Ukrainian forces have advanced and pushed Russian troops out of the northeast, people have been able to return to towns and villages that they abandoned.
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“People are crying, people are joyful, of course. How could they not be joyful!” said a retired English teacher whom Reuters identified only by her first name, Zoya, and age, 76.
Another woman, identified only as Nastya, 28, was also celebrating.
“I think everyone’s in a great (mood)! It’s all over now. At least we hope it’s all over,” she told, told Reuters.
Ukraine began the counteroffensive at the beginning of September and has since recaptured about 1,160 square miles, NPR reported.
Ukrainian military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyy said Ukrainian troops are now only about 30 miles from the Russian border.
