Russia hits Ukraine power facilities, causing blackouts around the country

Russia unleashed strategic bombers, killer drones and rockets in a barrage of attacks on Ukrainian targets early Friday, as a military push by Moscow that Kyiv says has been brewing for days appeared to pick up pace ahead of the one-year anniversary of its invasion.

Russian forces launched 71 cruise missiles, 35 S-300 missiles and seven Shahed drones since late Thursday, said Ukraine's military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Ukrainian forces downed 61 cruise missiles and five drones, he said.

Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Russia had hit power facilities in six regions with missiles and drones, causing blackouts across most of Ukraine.

The cruise missiles were launched by Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and from Russian navy ships in the Black Sea, Zaluzhnyi said, while the S-300 missiles were launched from the Belgorod region just inside Russia and the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.

Moscow again targetsUkraine power supply

UkrainianPrime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Moscow once again targeted the power supply in "another attempt to destroy the Ukrainian energy system and deprive Ukrainians of light, heat, water."

The Kremlin's forces focused their bombardments on Ukraine's industrial east, especially the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, the Ukrainian military said. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014.

• CBC News has been on the ground covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine from the start. What do you want to know about their experience there? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca. Our reporters will be taking your questions as the one-year anniversary approaches.

But the barrage went further, taking aim at the capital, Kyiv. It also struck critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in the northeast. Seven people were wounded there, two of them seriously, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.

The bombardments could be an effort by Russia to soften up Ukraine's defences ahead of a ground assault, which Kyiv believes Moscow is planning in the east. There has been little change in battlefield positions for weeks.

"This is a deliberate targeting of infrastructure that keeps Ukrainians alive in winter," U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said. Russia denies targeting civilians and says facilities it attacks support Kyiv's war effort.

Kyiv officials had anticipated a new Moscow thrust, especially in the east, as the Kremlin strives to secure areas it has illegally annexed and where it claims its rule is welcomed.

Ukraine's energy company, Ukrenergo, said Friday's attacks werethe 14th round of massive strikes on the country's power supply. The last one occurred on Jan. 26 as Moscow seeks to demoralize Ukrainians by leaving them without heat and water in the bitterly cold winter.

WATCH |Ukraine's drone challenge:

Drone hunters on high alert as Ukraine hopes for fighter jets

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Duration 2:08

Ukraines short-range air defences, also known as drone hunters, have been on high alert against low-flying drones attacking critical infrastructure. But the country says it urgently needs fighter jets as Russian attacks ramp up in the country's east.

The onslaught lent a sense of urgency to Ukraine's pleas for more Western military support.

The need prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a rare and daring two-day trip abroad this week to press allies to grant Kyiv more aid.

Officials from the International Monetary Fund will also meet with Ukrainian officials in Warsaw next week, a source familiar with the plans said on Friday, as Ukraine presses for a multi-billion dollar borrowing program to cover its funding needs.

1-year anniversary approaches

Ukraine has been bracing for a new Russian offensive, believing that after months of reverses President Vladimir Putin wants to tout a battlefield success before the anniversary of his Feb. 24 invasion. Ukrainian governors in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk said that thrust had begun.

Putin will give his delayed annual showcase address to parliament on Feb. 21, the date last year when he recognized as independent the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk that were controlled by Russian-backed separatists, a prelude to invading.

The complete capture of those provinces, among four Russia subsequently claimed to have annexed, would let Putin assert that one of his main priorities had been achieved.

Moscow's ambitions have narrowed since it launched its full-scale invasion when the capital Kyiv and the installation of a puppet government were among its targets and it is now focusing its efforts on gaining full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas.

Numerous battlefield setbacks, including yielding eastern areas it had initially captured, have embarrassed Russian Putin.

In the Donetsk region, local Ukrainian officials reported that the Russian military deployed additional troops and launched offensive operations. "There is a daily escalation and Russian attacks are becoming active throughout the region," Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

WATCH | He fought with Russia's ruthless Wagner Group. Now he wants protection:

He fought with Russias ruthless Wagner Group. Now he wants protection

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Duration 4:07

Andrei Medvedev says he regrets signing up to fight in Ukraine with Russias ruthless Wagner mercenary group. The 26-year-old fled to Norway, where police are treating him as a witness, but members of the Ukrainian community say he should face criminal court in Kyiv instead.

In Luhansk province, the Russian army is trying to punch through Ukrainian defences, according to regional Gov. Serhii Haidai.

"The situation is deteriorating, the enemy is constantly attacking, the Russians are bringing in a large amount of heavy equipment and aircraft," Haidai said.

Moldova PM resigns

Meanwhile, in Moldova, Ukraine's neighbour to the southwest, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita announced on Friday that her government was resigning, after a turbulent 18 months in power marked by economic turmoil and the aftershocks of Russia's war on Ukraine.

The former Soviet republic country of 2.5 million has suffered from soaring inflation and was strained last year by an influx of Ukrainian refugees.

It also suffered power cuts following Russian air attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and has struggled to break its dependence on Russian gas.

Protests erupted over rising prices, particularly for gas from Moscow, in what the central government in Chisinau has described as part of a Kremlin-sponsored campaign to destabilize the government.

Gavrilita assumed the post in August 2021, after her pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity secured a majority in parliament with a mandate to clean up corruption.