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Russia launched "one of the largest" missile and drone attacks on Ukraine since its initial invasion two-and-a-half years prior, Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky announced on Monday (August 26) via CNN.
At least four people have died and power outages are reported in several cities after "more than 100 missiles of various types and around 100 Shahed drones" were used, according to Zelensky. Dozens of missiles and drones were detected by Ukraine's air force in nearly all regions of the country, including Kyiv, its capital city.
“Russian terrorists have once again targeted energy infrastructure,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote Monday on Telegram Monday, noting that at least 15 regions were targeted by a combination of drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine's national energy company, was forced to implement emergency power cuts in an effort to stabilize the system after the attacks were launched, Shmyhal confirmed. Ukraine was anticipating a major Russian attack for several weeks after it made a surprise incursion into the border of Kursk, which served as the first foreign invasion of Russia since World War II, as part of its response to the Kremlin's invasion initially launched in February 2022.
Russian troops have occupied more than 745 miles of Ukraine since the invasion, according to Ukrainian officials via the Kyiv Independent, and 93 settlements with about 3.7 million Ukrainians internally displaced, nearly 6.5 million refugees recorded globally and approximately 14.6 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to USA for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.