Denys Shmyhal, Ukrainian Prime Minister has revealed that the Russian drone strikes damaged a thermal power plant in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, overnight, leaving at least 46,000 consumers without heating as temperatures plunge below freezing.

Taking to his Telegram app on Sunday, February 16, Shmyhal said the attack was done deliberately to leave people without heat in sub-zero temperatures and create a humanitarian catastrophe.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 143 drones overnight but the Ukrainian military said it had shot down 95 of them while 46 did not reach their targets, attributing that to the use of electromagnetic countermeasures that disrupt drone attacks.

According to Ukrainian officials, at least one person was injured in the overnight attacks which also damaged houses in the Kyiv region.

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Reacting to the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Western allies to give Ukraine more air defences, with Russia now holding 20% of Ukrainian territory and slowly advancing in the east as Moscow’s full-scale invasion nears its third anniversary.

Zelenskiy cited data showing that in the past week, Russia had unleashed about 1,220 aerial bombs, over 850 drones and more than 40 missiles into government-controlled areas of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia has not yet commented on the development.

However, both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with its invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.

“Europe and the world must be better protected from such evil and prepared to confront it,” Zelenskiy said.