KYIV: Russian missile and drone attacks damaged Ukrainian energy facilities in the Black Sea region of Odesa and the nearby city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, keeping up pressure on the embattled power grid, officials said.
Russia, which has targeted Ukrainian utilities throughout the two-year-old war, renewed its aerial assaults on Ukraine’s energy system last month with strikes that destroyed at least eight power plants and several dozen substations.
The Ukrainian grid operator said Wednesday’s attacks caused emergency blackouts in the southern regions of Mykolaiv and neighboring Kherson. The energy ministry said blackouts had affected over 400,000 consumers but power was later restored for most of them.
The air force said Russia launched 17 attack drones and three missiles at Ukraine in its latest overnight attacks and that air defenses downed 14 of the drones and two of the missiles.
The strikes on Odesa region targeted critical and logistics infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said. He did not identify the damaged energy facility. State-owned Ukrainian Railways said two of its employees were injured in the attack.
The military said energy infrastructure in the southern city of Mykolaiv was damaged and power supply was disrupted for several hours. There were no casualties there, it added.
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Russian air strikes damage electric system in southern Ukraine
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Russian air strikes damage electric system in southern Ukraine
- The Ukrainian grid operator said Wednesday’s attacks caused emergency blackouts in Mykolaiv and Kherson
- The strikes on Odesa region targeted critical and logistics infrastructure
Philippines says fishermen injured in China Coast Guard encounter
MANILA: Three Filipino fishermen were injured when China Coast Guard vessels sprayed their boats with water cannons and cut their anchor lines in a disputed area of the South China Sea, Philippine authorities said Saturday.
Beijing said Friday it had taken “necessary control measures,” involved about 20 Philippine fishing boats near the flashpoint Sabina Shoal, a fish-rich area about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the island of Palawan.
It was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in the contested waterway, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The fishermen were “were targeted with water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers,” a Philippine coast guard spokesman said in a statement Saturday.
“Three fishermen sustained physical injuries, including bruises and open wounds. Two (Filipino fishing boats) also suffered significant damage from high-pressure water cannon blasts,” Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
Small Chinese rigid hull inflatable vessels had also “deliberately cut the anchor lines of several (boats),” he added.
In a statement released Saturday, the China Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary control measures against the Philippine vessels ... including issuing warnings via loudspeaker and conducting external maneuvering to drive them away.”
Video released by the Philippine side showed water cannon blasts crashing over the small fishing boats. Tarriela told AFP the high-powered streams had “destroyed wooden structures” on the vessels.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
In October, the Philippines accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming one of its government vessels in the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has sought to assert its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.
A month earlier, one person was injured when a water cannon attack by a China Coast Guard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of another fisheries bureau vessel near the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal.
Beijing said Friday it had taken “necessary control measures,” involved about 20 Philippine fishing boats near the flashpoint Sabina Shoal, a fish-rich area about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the island of Palawan.
It was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in the contested waterway, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The fishermen were “were targeted with water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers,” a Philippine coast guard spokesman said in a statement Saturday.
“Three fishermen sustained physical injuries, including bruises and open wounds. Two (Filipino fishing boats) also suffered significant damage from high-pressure water cannon blasts,” Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
Small Chinese rigid hull inflatable vessels had also “deliberately cut the anchor lines of several (boats),” he added.
In a statement released Saturday, the China Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary control measures against the Philippine vessels ... including issuing warnings via loudspeaker and conducting external maneuvering to drive them away.”
Video released by the Philippine side showed water cannon blasts crashing over the small fishing boats. Tarriela told AFP the high-powered streams had “destroyed wooden structures” on the vessels.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
In October, the Philippines accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming one of its government vessels in the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has sought to assert its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.
A month earlier, one person was injured when a water cannon attack by a China Coast Guard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of another fisheries bureau vessel near the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal.
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