Millions without power in Ukraine amid Russia attacks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday announced that approximately 10 million Ukrainians lack access to electricity due to Russian missile attacks.

“There are emergency shutdowns in addition to planned, stabilization ones,” Zelensky said in the announcement, referring to electricity shutdowns.

The president added that electricity is in particularly short supply in the Vinnytsia, Odessa, Sumy and Kyiv regions of Ukraine.

“The elimination of the consequences of another missile attack against Ukraine continues all day,” Zelensky said.

Russian shelling on Thursday resulted in casualties in the eastern cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, according to the president.

Zelensky shared that the attack on Dnipro injured dozens and shelling in Zaporizhzhia killed seven people.

“We repeat to our partners again and again that only full protection of the Ukrainian sky will protect both Ukraine and Europe from many possible escalations of Russian aggression and will definitely encourage Russia to truly end the war,” Zelensky said, thanking Finland and Sweden for their material support of Ukraine.

The president also addressed the export crisis in Ukraine caused by Russian blockades on the country’s ports.

Zelensky said that Ukraine would “continue to export agricultural products through our Black Sea ports” through its export grain initiative.

He emphasized the global utility of Ukraine’s grain exports, reaching throughout Africa and the Middle East into eastern Asia and the European Union.

“Tens of millions of people, primarily in African countries, have been saved from starvation, in particular by means of deliveries in the framework of the UN World Food Programme from our ports,” Zelensky said.