Russian strikes leave thousands in northern Ukraine without power and water

An overnight Russian strike left more than 100,000 Ukrainian households without power. 

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry reported on Saturday that the strikes in Northern Ukraine had cut off electricity and water in the region, as civilian casualties rose sharply in the country’s embattled east. 

The northern Sumy region in Ukraine, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness as strikes damaged energy infrastructure. 

Local media say drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines which fed its system of pumps. 

Russian media also reported that Moscow’s forces hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000.  

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, according to local governor Vadym Filashkin.  

Five people died in the town of Selydove, near Pokrovsk – the eastern city that has emerged as a front-line hotspot.  

The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that Ukrainian and Russian forces had clashed 45 times there over the previous day.