MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2022) Sounds of explosions are heard in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine, the head of the local regional administration, Serhiy Hamaliy, said on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, media reported that an air alert was declared throughout Ukraine.
"Explosions are heard in the Khmelnytskyi region," Hamaliy said on Telegram.
Ukrainian media reported explosions in the city of Lutsk in Volyn region and the Rivne region in western Ukraine.
Later in the day, the city council of Khmelnytskyi stated that the city was left without electricity due to air strikes.
"Residents of Khmelnytskyi, there is no electricity in the city. We ask you to make water supplies if possible, since in an hour it will also disappear," the statement read.
The authorities of Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Volyn, Kirovohrad and Odesa regions said later on Saturday that critical infrastructure facilities have been damaged. Local officials said that some parts of the regions were cut off from the energy grid, and in other parts there were power outages due to high consumption. The regional authorities urged citizens to save energy as much as possible and stock up on water.
Ukrainian utility Ukrenergo said that the scale of damage dealt to the power system of Ukraine on Saturday morning was comparable or greater than the consequences of the October 10-12 strikes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russia's Security Council on October 10 that Russia had launched retaliatory strikes using precision-guided weapons against Ukrainian infrastructure, in response to the crimes committed by Kiev against the Russian civilian infrastructure. Putin condemned the bombing of the Kerch Strait Bridge, also known as the Crimean Bridge, that took place on October 8, saying that such a terror act cannot be left without retaliation.
On October 20, Ukraine switched to a reduced electricity consumption mode, which entailed shorter working hours per day, limited energy consumption in households and businesses, and fewer public transport rides, among other provisions. Several parts of the country experienced internet disruptions. On Friday, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said that Russian strikes against Ukraine's infrastructure had affected at least half of the country's thermal energy generation capacity.
