Missile barrage on Ukraine prompts calls to lift curbs on striking inside Russia
Summary
Russia struck sites across Ukraine with one of its largest missile attacks of the war, inflicting damage to the country’s already-strained energy infrastructure.
Russia struck sites across Ukraine with one of its largest missile attacks of the war, inflicting damage to the country’s already-strained energy infrastructure and prompting calls from Kyiv for Western allies to help Ukraine strike back.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Kyiv’s allies to lift restrictions on the use of long-range Western-made weapons, such as the U.S.’s ATACMS missiles, to strike deep inside Russian territory.
“There cannot be long-range restrictions in Ukraine, when terrorists do not have such restrictions," Zelensky said on Telegram. “America, Britain, France, other partners have the power to help us stop terror."
Moscow launched more than 100 missiles, along with Iranian-designed Shahed drones, into Ukraine on Monday morning, according to Zelensky. At least three people were killed, with many more wounded.
The assault comes three weeks after Ukraine began its ground invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv has now seized more than 400 square miles of territory—giving Ukrainians a much-needed morale boost after months of slowly losing ground on the eastern front.
But Monday’s attack underscored some of Ukraine’s vulnerabilities. The first F-16 jets began arriving in Ukraine this summer, potentially adding another layer of protection on top of its ground-based air-defense systems, but Ukraine doesn’t have the resources to intercept missiles in all parts of the country.
In addition, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has become more vulnerable throughout this year, with Moscow consistently targeting important power generation and transmission sites. Rolling blackouts have become common this summer—the first time the energy infrastructure has been crippled during the warm months.
Ukrainian officials didn’t immediately detail which parts of the electric grid had been affected, but damage was reported across the country, including in the Lviv and Zaporizhzhia regions and the Kyiv region, where the hydroelectric power station appeared to be damaged, according to photos and videos of the attack. Emergency power outages were imposed.
“The enemy is not abandoning plans to deprive Ukrainians of electricity," Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, wrote on Facebook. “The situation is difficult."
Russia said it had targeted gas and electric power stations that were used to support Ukraine’s military.
Earlier this year, Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region prompted foreign governments to lift some restrictions on using Western-made weapons to strike inside Russia. However, Ukraine remains prohibited from using those same weapons to strike deep inside Russia. Though Ukraine has conducted a series of strikes on fuel refineries, airfields and weapons-storage facilities inside Russia in recent months, these have been carried out with Ukrainian-made drones.
In Kyiv, officials are hoping Monday’s attack will again prompt Western allies to change their policy.
“Permission to strike with Western weapons deep into the territory of the Russian Federation," Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelensky’s office, wrote on social media. “This is necessary. We do it ourselves. But such a decision will speed up the end of Russian terror."
Ann M. Simmons contributed to this article.
Write to Ian Lovett at ian.lovett@wsj.com
