▲ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Right after the local ceasefire ended, Russia and Ukraine have once again heightened the intensity of their offensives targeting energy facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on social media on the 3rd (local time) that "the Russian military launched a complex, large-scale attack overnight."
Power generation facilities and substations in nine regions of Ukraine, including Odesa, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and Zhytomyr, became targets of the Russian military, resulting in a series of emergency blackouts.
In the Kharkiv region, a municipal hospital was attacked, leaving 73 people injured.
The death toll at the humanitarian aid distribution center in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, which was struck by at least nine 3,000-kg bombs the previous day, rose from 26 to 29.
President Zelenskyy claimed that "overnight, the Russian military fired 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles."
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the same day that it "carried out a large-scale attack targeting energy sector objectives," including Ukrainian thermal power plants.
This attack came just hours after President Zelenskyy warned of a large-scale Russian offensive.
In an address to the nation the previous day, President Zelenskyy stated, "We have gathered intelligence that Russia is preparing a new large-scale attack targeting the energy and logistics sectors."
He added, "Russia's calculation is that the world's attention will be focused on the U.S. midterm elections, and what is happening in Ukraine will fade from the international community's focus."
Ukraine also continued its counterattacks targeting Russian oil refineries.
According to Bloomberg, local authorities in Russia's Yaroslavl region stated that the Yanos oil refinery was attacked by 124 drones overnight.
The Yanos oil refinery, which is capable of refining about 300,000 barrels per day, supplies petroleum products to Moscow and surrounding areas, which is Russia's largest fuel-consuming region.
Some analyses suggest that the intensification of attacks by both sides right after the Oleshky local ceasefire ended is a strategic move to secure the upper hand in next week's scheduled end-of-war negotiations.
The trilateral end-of-war negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States, will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from the 10th to the 11th.
The trilateral peace talks had continued until February of this year, but were suspended following U.S. strikes on Iran.
The territorial issue of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine is expected to remain a core agenda item where both sides clash during these upcoming peace talks.
Russia maintains its stance that it will continue to use military force until it secures the Donbas region, while Ukraine is standing firm, stating it cannot surrender its territory.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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