Russian Drone Strike Hits Konotop's Power Grid

Russian drones inflicted significant damage to the northern Ukrainian town of Konotop's energy infrastructure in an overnight attack that injured at least 14 people and cut electricity to the settlement, local officials said.

A video released by Ukraine’s police service showed officers working on site of a severely damaged apartment block. The location was verified by the building characteristics, businesses, and road layout which matched satellite and file imagery of the area. The date was verified from a statement from officials in the Sumy region published on Telegram messaging app.

Rescuers were working to restore power in the town, which had a pre-war population of about 83,000. Regional officials said there had been 10 explosions during the attack and Mayor Artem Semenikhin said the power system was in critical condition.

Konotop is in the Sumy region, which has been particularly targeted by Russia in recent weeks, after Ukraine used the region as a staging ground for a surprise incursion into Russia last month.

The strike on Konotop was part of a broader Russian attack using 64 drones, the air force said. It shot down 44 of them over nine different regions, it said.

Such attacks have become regular, almost nightly occurrences since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The attack also damaged seven apartment buildings, medical and educational institutions, a shop, a bank and a section of the town's tramway, regional prosecutors and local officials said.

Russia claimed that its air forces and artillery forces have attacked airport infrastructure and energy facilities used to support operations of Ukrainian troops over the past 24 hours, while the Ukrainian side said that multiple battles are still lingering on between the two sides.

Russian air defense forces have shot down 59 drones over the past day, the country's Defense Ministry said.