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Russia’s defence ministry says it is preparing large-scale strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, framing the move as retaliation for Kyiv’s attacks on Russian territory, as the death toll from a Russian strike on an ammunition depot near the Ukrainian capital climbed to 38.
“The Russian Armed Forces have begun preparations for massive strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in response to what Moscow describes as ongoing attacks by the Kyiv regime on Russia’s civilian infrastructure and fuel and energy facilities,” the defence ministry in Moscow said on Telegram.
The warning revives fears of a repeat of last winter, when Moscow’s bombardment of Ukrainian power plants devastated the country’s grid and left millions without heat or electricity in sub-zero temperatures.
Both sides have escalated long-range strikes over the past several months, hitting warehouses, refineries, ports and ships, with rising civilian casualties.
Depot strike toll climbs to 38
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the death toll from Saturday’s Russian drone strike on a munitions depot in the village of Myla, in the Bucha district near Kyiv, had risen to 38, with 20 people injured and four still missing. Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said “the extent of contamination in the area is significant” as emergency crews worked to extinguish the remaining fires and bomb disposal teams cleared the site.
The strike triggered a massive detonation and secondary explosions that sent flames into surrounding residential areas, damaging around 50 buildings and forcing the evacuation of more than 380 residents, according to regional officials. Among the dead was Taras Didych, mayor of the nearby village of Dmytrivka. It is one of the deadliest single incidents Kyiv’s suburbs have seen since Russia’s full-scale invasion began more than four years ago.
Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a criminal negligence investigation focused on why explosives were being stored so close to homes.
A third day of sustained attacks
The Myla strike capped a third consecutive day of Russian aerial bombardment — among the most sustained since spring.
Russia’s military said it also struck a cement and asbestos plant in Kyiv on Sunday, alleging its warehouses were being used to store explosives, along with a drone and munitions manufacturing site.
Overall, Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 130 drones of various types between late Saturday and early Sunday, the Ukrainian air force said.
Ukraine, for its part, struck an oil refinery in northwestern Russia with drones, sparking a fire, according to local Russian authorities.
The Kirishi oil refinery in Russia’s Leningrad region is the country’s second-largest production plant, with the capacity to process around 20 million tonnes of crude oil a year for jet fuel and diesel.
Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russia’s energy and oil infrastructure — refineries, pumping stations and storage depots — as part of a strategy officials say is meant to pressure Moscow economically toward ending the war.