Russian strikes cut power to thousands in Ukraine as Kherson ceasefire set to expire

A humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine's Kherson region, which has allowed civilians to evacuate the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, is due to end on Sunday night at 22:59 Ukrainian time (21:00 GMT). The limited pause in hostilities, which began on Tuesday, has held along the localised section of the front line since it was implemented last week, although fighting has continued elsewhere in the country. Overnight on Saturday into Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia struck energy infrastructure in four regions, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. A separate overnight strike killed two people, including a 13-year-old girl, in the Vinnytsia region, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Repair crews worked throughout the day to restore electricity. Most customers in the Dnipropetrovsk region had their connections restored by early evening, but the regional governor said more than 60,000 remained without power. Because of repeated attacks on energy infrastructure, emergency power cuts have been introduced nationwide, with electricity in the capital Kyiv cut off for most of the day and water supplies also disrupted. In a social media post, Zelensky described the intensity of Russian strikes over the past week as "extremely high", saying Russia was "trying to take maximum advantage of the shortage of ballistic missile interceptors". He said Ukraine communicated "every day" its need for Patriot missiles, which he described as the only effective weapon for downing Russia's ballistic missiles, to the US, Europe and other partners, thanking countries for support so far while calling for more immediate aid. Ukraine also struck a major missile fuel producer in Russia's Rostov region overnight, causing a fire and damaging four production facilities, Zelensky said. The ceasefire in Kherson was brokered with the help of US First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV. It was originally confined to Oleshky, which has been under Russian occupation since the first days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and was soon expanded across the wider Kherson region. Oleshky had been trapped on one side by the Dnipro river and on the other by Russian forces, with routes out mined and subject to drone attack. Residents faced shortages of food, water and electricity. The truce allowed residents to evacuate if they wished, and there were emotional scenes on Saturday as Ukrainians who had been trapped in the city were reunited with loved ones they had not seen for years. Although Ukrainian military positions sit just 5km (3.1 miles) from Oleshky, evacuees had to travel through Russian-occupied territory to southern Russia, fly to Belarus, and then be driven across Ukraine's northern border. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said the oldest evacuee was 94 years old and the youngest was one.