Warsaw reported increased surveillance of Polish airspace following Russia's heavy attack on Ukraine overnight. The operational command of the Polish Armed Forces scrambled its and allied planes and warned citizens: "This night there is intense activity on the part of the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation associated with missile attacks on targets located on the territory of Ukraine. All necessary procedures have been initiated to ensure the safety of Polish airspace", as reported by the Ukrainian media.
"During the night the Russian army launched a powerful missile attack against Ukraine's energy facilities," Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said, saying the defense shot down 84 out of 99 targets. The Kremlin troops attacked with 60 drones, 3 X-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, 2 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 9 X-59 guided air missiles, 4 Iskander-K cruise missiles, 21 X-101-X-555 cruise missiles. The Ministry of Energy announced on Telegram that "thermal and hydroelectric power plants in the central and western regions were damaged."
The Ukrainian energy company Dtek announced on Telegram that three thermoelectric power plants were seriously damaged by the Russian attack during the night in the regions of Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava and Cherkasy: "The targets of the attacks with drones and missiles were mainly power plants electricity production".
According to estimates by the US think tank ISW (The Institute for the Study of War), Russian forces have conquered 505 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since they launched offensive operations in October 2023. And they have gained almost 100 square kilometers more between on January 1 and March 28, 2024 compared to the last three months of 2023. "The opportunities to exploit Ukrainian vulnerabilities will expand as the weapons shortage persists...", writes the ISW on its website, "the arrival Sufficient and regular Western assistance would reduce these opportunities for Russian forces."
Moscow says 15 Ukrainian air targets were shot down overnight over the Russian city of Belgorod. This was reported by the Tass news agency. No victims were reported, specified the governor of the oblast of the same name Vyacheslav Gladkov. "Our air defenses went into action in the city and district of Belgorod, shooting down 15 approaching air targets. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties," Gladkov wrote on Telegram adding that the windows of 37 apartments of 17 apartment buildings were destroyed and a balcony was severely damaged by falling fragments. Damage also occurred in the Belgorod stadium.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, says that "the conflict continues to endanger nuclear security in Ukraine". Grossi points out in particular the risks due to "military activities underway near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, air raid warnings and bombings that knock out electricity at various sites". "For more than two years now, nuclear safety in Ukraine has been in constant danger," Grossi underlines in a statement published last night on the IAEA website. “We remain determined to do everything we can to help minimize the risk of a nuclear accident that could harm people and the environment not only in Ukraine.” At the Zaporizhzhia power plant "IAEA experts stationed on site continued to hear explosions every day for the last week, at different distances from the plant", Grossi reports, adding that "several times the sounds seemed to come from close to the site, presumably from outgoing artillery fire, and small arms fire was heard nearby."
Russian forces struck several energy infrastructures in Ukraine with drones and missiles tonight, the Ukrainian national electricity company Ukrenergo says. “Thermal and hydroelectric power plants in the central and western regions were damaged,” read a post on Telegram. Emergency power cuts were introduced in the Dnipropetrovsk region and shutdown times in the Kharkiv region. Explosions were also heard in Dnipro and Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
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