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Russian Barrage Causes Ukraine Blackout10/16 06:22
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russia battered Ukraine's energy facilities with
hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in its latest heavy bombardment of
the country's power grid, authorities said Thursday, as Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to ask President Donald Trump at a White House
meeting for more American-made air defenses and long-range missiles.
Eight Ukrainian regions experienced blackouts after the barrage, Ukraine's
national energy operator, Ukrenergo, said. DTEK, the country's largest private
energy company, reported outages in the capital, Kyiv, and said it had to stop
its natural gas extraction in the central Poltava region due to the strikes.
Natural gas infrastructure was damaged for the sixth time this month, Naftogaz,
Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company, said.
Zelenskyy said Russia fired more than 300 drones and 37 missiles at Ukraine
overnight. He accused Russia of using cluster munitions and conducting repeated
strikes on the same target to hit emergency crews and engineers working to
repair the grid.
"This fall, the Russians are using every single day to strike our energy
infrastructure," Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian power grid been one of Russia's main targets since its
invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago. Attacks increase as the
bitterly cold months approach in a Russian strategy that Ukrainian officials
call "weaponizing winter." Russia says it aims only at targets of military
value.
Ukraine seeks air defenses and attack missiles
Ukrainian forces have resisted Russia's bigger and better equipped army,
limiting it to a grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer
(600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and southern regions.
But Ukraine, which is almost the size of Texas, is hard to defend from the
air in its entirety, and Kyiv officials are seeking more Western help to fend
against aerial attacks and strike back at Russia.
Zelenskyy was expected to arrive in the United States on Thursday, ahead of
his Oval Office meeting with Trump on Friday.
Ukraine is seeking cruise missiles, air defense systems and joint drone
production agreements from the United States, Kyiv officials say. Zelenskyy
also wants tougher international economic sanctions on Moscow.
The visit comes amid signs that Trump is leaning toward steping up pressure
on Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock in U.S.-led peace
efforts.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday in Brussels that if
Russia won't budge from its objections and refuses to negotiate a peace deal,
Washington "will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its
continued aggression."
Also, Trump said Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil. That
would deny Moscow income it needs to keep fighting in Ukraine.
Washington has hesitated over providing Ukraine with long-range missiles,
such as Tomahawks, out of concern that such a step could escalate the war and
deepen tensions between the United States and Russia.
But Trump has been frustrated by his inability to force an end to the war in
Ukraine and has expressed impatience with Putin, whom he increasingly describes
as the primary obstacle to a resolution.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an
assessment published late Wednesday that sending Tomahawks to Ukraine would not
escalate the war and would only "mirror Russia's own use of ... long-range
cruise missiles against Ukraine."
Ukraine engages with American defense companies
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Economy Ministry said Thursday it has signed a
memorandum of understanding with U.S. company Bell Textron Inc. to cooperate in
aviation technology.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based aerospace and defense company will open an
office in Ukraine and establish a center for assembly and testing, while
exchanging know-how and training Ukrainians in the United States, according to
a ministry statement.
Ukraine, unsure what it can expect from Western allies, is keen to develop
its own arms industry.
On Wednesday, a Ukrainian government delegation met during a U.S. visit with
prominent American weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
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