63 UAVs and 88 missiles of various types: Russians launch massive attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure

On the night of March 22, the Russian army attacked Ukrainian regions with 63 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs and 88 Iskander-M, X-101/X-555, X-22, Kinzhal, X-59, and S-300/S-400 missiles. The Ukrainian Air Force downed 92 air targets. 

"The world sees the goals of Russian terrorists as clearly as possible. Russian missiles have no delays, like aid packages for our country. The "Shahed" have no indecision, like some politicians. It is important to understand the price of delays and postponed decisions," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the night attack by Russians.

The head of Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, called the March 22 attack "the largest attack on Ukraine's energy system."

"They used combined effects munitions. The attack was carried out on different regions of Ukraine, on thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as well as on main substations operated by Ukrenergo," Kudrytskyi said on the air of a national telethon.

In Kharkiv, 30 km from the eastern border with Russia, over 15 strikes on energy facilities have been reported, with damage to critical infrastructure. The town is almost completely de-energised, with power lines down and water supply interruptions. A 43-year-old employee of one of the energy infrastructure facilities was injured. Fifteen settlements in the region came under artillery and mortar fire.

The Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Zaporizhzhia region, partially occupied in the south since 2022, was hit. Road traffic through the dam has been blocked. There is no threat of a burst. In total, Russians fired almost 20 missiles at Zaporizhzhia. There is a dead man, at least eight wounded, and two more have been reported missing. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia NPP, is connected to the Ukrainian power grid by only one power line. There is a threat of blackout. Over the past day, Russian aircraft and artillery launched 327 strikes on 12 localities. 

In Khmelnytskyi, west of Ukraine, infrastructure and residential buildings were damaged. At least two people are reported killed and eight injured. Rescuers continue to clear the rubble.

Emergency blackout schedules have been introduced in several regions: the Donetsk region, which lies along the frontline in the east of Ukraine, the Poltava region, and Sumy region, in the north, and the Dnipropetrovsk region, and the Odesa region, in the south. Residential buildings and critical infrastructure facilities were damaged in the regions due to the shelling. 

In the Lviv region, bordering Poland to the west, a drone hit an energy infrastructure facility. Nobody was injured.

Russians hit a critical infrastructure facility in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, west of Ukraine. One person was injured. The region was attacked with both, shaheds and rockets.

A critical infrastructure facility was also hit in the Vinnytsia region, centre of Ukraine.

In the Kherson region, which borders the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula in the south of Ukraine, Russians attacked at least 16 towns and settlements. Residential buildings have been damaged. Critical infrastructure, educational institutions, and gas pipelines are reported damaged. Two people were killed, and seven others were injured.

Russians attacked Mykolaiv, the south of Ukraine, with a ballistic missile. One person was killed and ten others were injured. In addition, the Ochakiv and Kutsurub communities came under fire.