Russian missiles pound central and western Ukraine power plants as campaign is ramped up

Police experts work near a crater at the site of hospital buildings damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine yesterday. Photo: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters

Olena Harmash

Russian missiles pounded power facilities in central and western Ukraine yesterday, increasing pressure on the ailing energy system as the country faces a shortage of air defences despite a breakthrough in US military aid.

The airstrike, carried out with ballistic missiles and cruise missiles fired by Russian strategic bombers based in the Arctic Circle, was the fourth large-scale aerial assault targeting the power system since March 22.