Massive Russian missile and drone attacks have hit thermal and hydropower plants in central and western Ukraine overnight, officials said, in the latest barrage targeting the country's already damaged power infrastructure.
Kaniv hydropower plant and Dnister plant, which is located on the Dnister River, flowing through neighbouring Moldova, were among the targets, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"The terrorist state of Russia wishes to repeat the ecological disaster in the Kherson region following Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka HPP (blown up by Russian forces last year). This time, not only Ukraine but also Moldova are at risk," he said on X.
Last week, Russia also hit Ukraine's largest dam, the Dnipro station in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, eight times during a massive overnight attack.
"We urge our partners to respond quickly and decisively to Russia's intensified bombing campaign against Ukraine's critical infrastructure," President Zelensky said in a call for more air defences.
Regional officials said Russian forces had also attacked infrastructure overnight in the Kamianske district near the city of Dnipro. At least one person was wounded, they added.
Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said power facilities in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Cherkasy had similarly come under attack.
"Electricity generation facilities were targeted by drones and missiles," Mr Gelushchenko said on Facebook.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that energy facilities in total of six regions had been damaged.
"Again, the attack was directed both against electricity generation facilities and against its distribution system," he added.
Power grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram it had to apply power cuts schedules up till the evening in three regions, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kirovohrad.
The largest private power firm, DTEK, said its three thermal power plants had come under attack and equipment was severely damaged.
"Attacks destroyed half of DTEK’s available generating capacity. Five of the six DTEK power stations that had been operating prior to this week have now sustained serious damage," it said in a statement.
It added that Russian strikes on energy facilities were becoming more "accurate and concentrated".
The Ukrainian military said its air force had destroyed 58 Russia-launched attack drones overnight from a total of 60, along with 26 of 39 missiles of various types.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Ukrainian television said explosions were heard in the regions of Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi as well as the city of Dnipro as Russian cruise missiles were spotted in Ukrainian air space.
Ukrainian power distributor Yasno said this week that DTEK lost about half its capacity following Russian missile and drone attacks.
Ukrainian state-run Naftogaz oil and gas firm said its facilities had come under attack on Friday morning.
"(Russian attacks) targeted Naftogaz Group's facilities, but there was no serious damage," it said in a statement, giving no more details.
Ukraine gets $1.5bn under World Bank programme, PM says
Meanwhile, Ukraine received a $1.5 billion tranche of funding under a World Bank programme, Prime Minister Shmyhal said, helping it pay for its budget and social spending as it defends itself against the Russian invasion.
Ukraine is reliant on financial aid from its Western partners but foreign financing dwindled in the first two months of this year, and a US aid package has been blocked by Republicans in Congress for months.
The new block of World Bank aid was funded by Britain and Japan, Mr Shmyhal said.
"984 million dollars come from Japan and 516 million dollars from the UK. The funds will cover budget spending for social and humanitarian needs and reconstruction," he wrote on X.
Earlier in March, Ukraine received a €4.5 billion first tranche of aid under a European Union bridging finance programme.
Kyiv spends most of its own revenues to finance its defence efforts since Russia invaded in February 2022, leaving Kyiv heavily reliant on funding from Western partners to cover its social spending.
"The effective work of the government, together with timely support from partners, allows us to maintain stability of the financial system even in times of the full-scale aggression and daily terror of the Russian Federation," Serhiy Marchenko, the finance minister, said in a statement.
Romania finds possible drone fragments
Romania has said that it has found possible drone fragments near its border with war-torn Ukraine.
Drone fragments have already been found in the NATO member since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and heavy bombardments of its Danube port infrastructure.
The latest pieces were found late last night on an island on the Danube river in Braila county, some 20km from the Ukraine border, the defence ministry said.
"Fragments that appear to have come from an aerial device (drone) were identified on a piece of agricultural land on the Big Island of Braila," the ministry said in a statement.
No casualties were reported. The incident is being investigated, it added.
Romanian authorities reported other pieces from crashed drones in 2023 after Russia intensified attacks on ports in southern Ukraine, including areas bordering Romania.
While officials stressed that they did not believe the country had been intentionally targeted, following one incident in December, Romania summoned Russia's ambassador to complaining about a "new violation" of its airspace.
A 1.5-metre deep crater was found in an uninhabited area in Tulcea county, which faces the Ukrainian port of Reni across the Danube.
At the time, the Romanian foreign ministry condemned Russia's "repeated attacks".
