In the period from April 26 to 27, Russia carried out an unexpected combined missile attack on the territory of Ukraine, aimed at the cities of Dnipro and Lviv. Initially, even before midnight, Russian forces struck with cruise missiles from the southern direction and used "daggers" from MiG-31 aircraft. After 4:30 a.m., the attack was reinforced by cruise missiles from Tu-95MS bombers, and daggers were again used.
At midnight, cruise missiles and "daggers" flew across the center of Ukraine and changed direction to the west. Local sources reported explosions in Ivano-Frankivsk region, and rockets may have also reached Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil regions.
The first missiles from the Tu-95MS flew into Ukraine around 4 o'clock in the morning, following a strange trajectory through the Kyiv region to Zhytomyr, and from there to the south.
Other rockets left the sea and headed for the Dnipro, Pavlograd and Kryvyi Rih; a missile strike in the direction of the Dnipro was also recorded, carried out by missiles that flew through the Kharkiv region. Several waves of rockets flew over Dnipropetrovsk region from the side of occupied Crimea.
A separate group of cruise missiles entered Ukraine through Sumy Oblast and continued its way through Kyiv Oblast to the west to Lviv Oblast. At approximately 5:30 in the morning, explosions were heard in Lviv. According to the authorities, various types of rockets hit Stryi - in this area, according to the authorities, it was particularly dangerous.
This spring, Russia has repeatedly shelled the Stryi, focusing on underground gas storage facilities.
Around midnight, Russia again attacked Kharkiv with ballistic missiles. According to local officials, the rockets fell near the medical facility. "At the moment, there are no reports of casualties - windows were damaged in the medical facility. But this is only initial information," the mayor noted in his message.
Russia's large-scale missile attack on Ukraine ended at 6 o'clock in the morning.
In the spring campaign of 2024, Russia began a new phase of destabilization of the Ukrainian energy sector, destroying at least three thermal power plants near Kharkiv, Burshtyn and Kyiv. A number of hydroelectric power plants were also significantly damaged, in particular in Zaporizhzhia and Kanev.
This Russian attack was aimed at destroying shunting generation, which would help withstand peak network loads.
Official sources reported significant disruptions in the power sector, and blackout schedules had to be put in place in many areas. The situation in Kharkiv has become critical.
On March 21, after a month-long pause, Russia struck again, this time choosing Kyiv. 17 people were injured in the capital and its surroundings, but the rockets were shot down.
Residential buildings, kindergartens and industrial facilities were destroyed in Kyiv and its surroundings. On March 22, Russia carried out the largest attack on Ukrainian energy during the entire period of the war. Energy facilities throughout the country were violated and damaged. The legendary Dnipro HPP in Zaporizhzhia was also hit, and Kharkiv found itself without electricity and its thermal power plant.
The process of restoring electricity supply is still ongoing.
Emergency power outages occurred in seven regions of the south and east of the country. Three people died in Khmelnytskyi, and two in Zaporizhzhia.
Rockets also damaged energy facilities in Lviv Oblast and destroyed the Burshtyn thermal power station in Frankiv Oblast.
In total, Russia carried out more than 60 strikes with Shaheds and almost 90 missiles of various types, including aeroballistic daggers.
On March 24, Russia launched another combined missile attack on the territory of Ukraine.
Some rockets were aimed at Kyiv, others reached Lviv Oblast, where they hit energy facilities. Even one rocket flew for 39 seconds to Poland.
Most of the rockets landed near underground gas storage facilities near Stryi. There, at 9 am of the same day, two Kinjal missiles were launched. There were no reports of casualties during this attack, but the damage caused was significant.
On the morning of March 25, Russia again attacked Kyiv with Zircon missiles, both were shot down, but damage to the Academy of Arts was recorded in the city. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
On March 29, Russia again staged a massive attack on Ukraine with cruise missiles, "shahedas" and "daggers". This time, energy facilities were damaged in a number of regions of the center and west of Ukraine, as a result of which a problem with electricity supply began in six regions.
By the way, the Kanivska and Dnistrovsk hydroelectric power plants were attacked. There were no reports of casualties, but injuries were reported.
During the massive overnight attack on March 29, Russian forces fired 99 missiles of various types and drones at Ukrainian energy facilities. Of these, 58 "martyrs" and 26 missiles were shot down.
On March 31, a massive rocket attack mostly fell on western Ukraine. Energy facilities, which were attacked in the previous days, were hit again near Stryi. As a result, two people died.
It is noted that Russia attacked gas storage facilities near Stryi with "daggers" capable of knocking down only PATRIOT systems.
At the beginning of April, Russia again attacked Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia with ballistic missiles and "shahedas", as a result of which four people died in both cities. On April 6, another Russian strike took place in all regions of Ukraine, as a result of which seven people died in Kharkiv.
On the night of April 11, Russia delivered another serious blow to the energy infrastructure. At that time, "shahedy", cruise missiles from Tu-95MS aircraft, "daggers" from MiG-31K and guided air missiles from Su-34 were used. As a result of these attacks in Mykolaiv, at least two people died. In the Kyiv region, the Trypil TPP, the most powerful power plant that supplied electricity to several neighboring regions, was destroyed.
In the Lviv region, rockets and drones again hit the gas distribution infrastructure and underground storage facilities near Stryi, and also hit an electrical substation in the Chervonohrad district.
On April 17, Chernihiv was hit by three rockets, as a result of which seventeen people died. And on April 19, Russian forces attacked the Dnipro railway station and energy facilities in the region, as a result of which eight people died.
On the night of April 25, an "Iskander" missile was launched at Smila in Cherkasy region, which damaged more than 40 houses and a railway facility.
Earlier in the winter, Russia carried out massive combined missile strikes, but since February 15, it took a pause in mass shelling, continuing point attacks on various cities in the east and south of Ukraine. However, Russia did much more damage to its energy infrastructure in the spring than it did in the winter.
