KIEV / MOSCOW - Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on energy facilities in Ukraine's five regions on Thursday morning, local authorities reported.
Power generating facilities and transmission systems in the eastern Kharkiv region, the southern Zaporizhzhia region, the western Lviv region, and the central Kiev region came under attack, Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook.
About 200,000 households in the Kharkiv region have been left without electricity after 10 missiles struck the city of Kharkiv, said Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov
Besides, debris from the downed Shahed drones caused a fire at an energy facility in the southern Odesa region, Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.
About 200,000 households in the Kharkiv region have been left without electricity after 10 missiles struck the city of Kharkiv, said Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov.
The metro station in Kharkiv is currently working as a shelter, according to Synegubov.
Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK reported that equipment at two of its thermal power plants was damaged in the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 40 missiles and about 40 drones.
Earlier on Tuesday, a woman and a child were killed with three others injured after Ukraine shelled a village in Russia's western Bryansk region, local Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram.
Mobilization rules
Also on Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law to tighten military mobilization rules, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on his Telegram.
The legislation, which aims to recruit more troops for the country's armed forces, was supported by 283 votes in favor, surpassing the required minimum of 226.
According to the government-run Ukrinform news agency, Ukrainians liable for military services will be obliged to register at military enlistment offices or electronic cabinets once the legislation takes effect.
The new law also introduces some penalties for evaders, such as a ban on driving vehicles and restrictions on consular services. The mobilization law is to be signed by Zelensky before it comes into force.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities said Thursday that they have foiled the landing in the Kherson region of Ukrainian sabotage groups trained in Britain.
The landing had been "planned by British special services" and was thwarted by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian Defense Ministry, read a statement by the FSB.
One Ukrainian soldier was captured alive, and the soldier confirmed that the saboteurs were trained in Britain, it said.
The FSB said that the Special Boat Service, a British maritime special forces unit, is supervising the activities in the Ukrainian military behind such operations, which "indicates the direct involvement of the United Kingdom in the conflict."
