Zelensky condemned the “massive missile attack,” which was also reported to have damaged homes and the railway network.

Russia launched a “massive” missile attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight into Wednesday, local authorities said, in one of Moscow’s largest barrages for weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there had been missile and drone attacks on critical energy facilities in seven regions, including the Kyiv region.

Zelensky said in posts on social media that more than 50 missiles and 20 drones had been fired by Russian forces on Tuesday, hitting power generation and transmission facilities in Ukraine’s Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said that at least 59 weapons were destroyed overnight.

Zelensky condemned the “massive missile attack,” which was also reported to have damaged homes and the railway network.

Nine Ukrainian regions experienced power blackouts on Wednesday morning following the strikes. Grid operator Ukrenergo warned of possible power cuts across the country on Wednesday evening as a result of the new damage and ongoing fighting.

“The enemy wants to deprive us of the ability to generate and transmit electricity in sufficient quantities. Saving electricity is a contribution of each of us to the victory,” Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said.

At least three people were injured, including a woman and a man with multiple limb injuries and shrapnel wounds taken to the hospital in the Kyiv region, and an 8-year-old child in the Kirovohrad region, local authorities said.

The attacks come as Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II on Wednesday.

Russia celebrates Victory Day, marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, on May 9. Ukraine changed its celebration to May 8 last year.

“On Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II Day, Nazi Putin launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

The Ukrainian leader said that “all necessary services are already working to mitigate the consequences of Russian terror.”

“The entire world must understand who is who. The world must not give a chance to new Nazism,” he added in his post.

Analysts say Russia has pummelled Ukraine’s power plants in an attempt to hamper the production of weapons for the military and diminish public morale.

Ukraine is desperately awaiting weapons deliveries from Western allies, warning that its defence capabilities are running low. The United States and the European Union have both committed to new aid packages in recent months.

However, Kyiv continues to plead for more air defence systems, such as the US-built Patriot which intercepts drones and missiles.

Washington has promised to deliver more Patriot systems, as well as more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS defence systems which it delivered in 2022.