By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) – Russia attacked Ukraine’s energy system and cities in its eastern region with cruise and ballistic missiles on Wednesday morning, Ukraine’s energy minister and local officials said.

At least six people were injured in a missile attack in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday morning, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

The Ukrainian air forces said Kharkiv was attacked by ballistic missiles and Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app that there was “damage to civilian non-residential infrastructure”.

Separately, the Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram: “Since the morning, the Russian army has extensively attacked the Dnipro region. It is trying to destroy the power system in the region.”

Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook (NASDAQ: ) that Russia has “massively attacked the power sector” and that the transmission system operator has imposed restrictions on power supply to minimize the impact .

Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector since the spring of 2024, damaging almost half of its production capacity and causing several hours of blackout across the country.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s military launched a nationwide air alert in response to Russia’s cruise missile launch.

The country’s largest private energy company DTEK said its manufacturing facilities were attacked during the strike, causing “serious damage” to power equipment.

“This year, this is the 13th large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy sector and the 10th large-scale attack on the company’s energy facilities,” DTEK said on Telegram.

Local authorities and the air force reported missile overflights in the eastern, central, southern and western regions.

During the last major missile attack on Nov. 17, Russia launched 120 missiles and 90 drones, killing at least seven people and causing severe damage to the power system.

DTEK imposed emergency power cuts of up to eight hours in many parts of Ukraine at the time.