Russian strikes cut output at Ukraine nuclear plants, Zelensky says

Ukrainian nuclear power plants are producing less electricity following heavy Russian missile strikes on substations and high-voltage lines, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

"One reactor shut down automatically. This is a level of attack that no terrorist in the world would dare to carry out," said Zelensky in his evening video message.

In the interests of regional security, Zelensky demanded that Russia feel the outrage of the "whole world."

The Russian military attacked energy facilities across Ukraine using combat drones and missiles early Saturday. Authorities said the targets included a major substation in the Lviv region as well as thermal power plants in western parts of the country.

The strikes compounded suffering in the war-torn country, worsening outages of power, water and heat in freezing weather.

In Kiev, the situation worsened again after the morning attacks. For a large part of the capital's residents, there are only two hours of electricity per day, the electricity supplier DTEK said in the evening on Telegram. Russia's attacks mean Ukraine has lost a significant part of its available electrical energy, it said.

In the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk, the Burshtyn thermal power plant, a DTEK facility key to the region, was shut down entirely after Russia targeted it with Kalibr missiles and combat drones.

"We currently have no heating, no hot water, and no water," the mayor of the town where the plant is located, Vasyl Andriyishyn, said in a Facebook post.

He said the situation at the power plant was "very difficult" and must first be investigated. However, he said that water and district heating supplies would be restored within 48 hours.

In the region, the local utility was forced to cut the power for several longer periods after the plant failed, leaving many customers with about four to five hours of electricity per day. The water supply was also interrupted.

The thermal power plant in Burshtyn is one of the largest in Ukraine, with 12 units and a total capacity of around 2,400 megawatts.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for nearly four years.

Meanwhile, in the Russian border region of Bryansk, the Ukrainian army attacked targets with long-range Neptune missiles and US Himars missiles, Russian sources said.

Governor Alexander Bogomas reported on Telegram that damage to district heating and energy supplies had been caused in seven municipalities. Two people were injured.

There were also continuing problems with the power supply in the neighbouring Belgorod region following Ukrainian shelling, according to official reports.