Explosions occurred across the country, from east to west, including in relatively war-free areas such as Kharkiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Dnipro, Lviv, Loutsk and Kyiv. On the morning of Monday, August 26, Ukraine was the target of the largest Russian missile and drone attack since the invasion began in February 2022.

The attacks, which hit energy infrastructure in 15 regions across the country, left five people dead and dozens injured, according to the latest official figures. The attack came as Ukrainian forces reportedly gain ground in the Russian border region of Kursk since their top-secret incursion on August 6.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on his Telegram channel that Russian forces had fired “more than 100 missiles of various types and 100 Shahed kamikaze drones.” The Ukrainian General Staff revised the figure to 127 missiles and 109 combat drones at the end of the day.

“We could do much more to protect lives if the air forces of our European neighbors worked together with our F-16 fighter jets and our air defenses,” added Zelensky, who announced the arrival of the long-awaited American fighter jets in early August without giving the exact number.

On the Russian side, the Defense Ministry said it had carried out a “massive attack” on energy facilities “that enable the operation of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine,” as well as on “transformer substations” in nine regions of the country. In the Lviv and Kharkiv regions, “compressor stations” of the gas network were also hit, it said in a statement.

The shelling also hit the hydroelectric power station on the Dnipro River above the capital. A video posted on social media showed the road above the dam littered with debris. Andriy Kovalenko of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council immediately stated that the attacks posed no threat to the Kyiv dam.

Emergency power outages

Meanwhile, Polish and allied aircraft were sent into the airspace on Monday of NATO member Poland, due to the intensity of Russian bombings near the Polish border. The Polish Army announced that a “flying aircraft”, probably a Shahed kamikaze drone, had entered their airspace before disappearing from radar.

In the Ukrainian capital, the first explosions from air defenses were heard at 8 a.m. Thousands of residents rushed to deep underground stations to seek shelter, while the Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo imposed emergency power outages to stabilize the grid.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko also announced that some parts of the city would be without water. The alert lasted seven hours and 46 minutes. Ukrainian authorities were instructed to open “emergency shelters,” emergency shelters where people can charge their phones and other devices during power outages, Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal said.

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