Ukraine faces power blackouts as frontline fighting exceeds 150 engagements

Ukrainian forces reported over 150 daily combat engagements across the frontline, with intense fighting concentrated in the Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka sectors. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian counterattacks have constrained Russian advances near Kupyansk and Sloviansk, although Russian forces expanded control south of Dobropillia and claimed a settlement in Zaporizhzhia.

Simultaneously, Russian strikes targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure triggered widespread power outages. Over 600,000 residents in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and 250,000 in Kharkiv Oblast lost electricity, alongside heating and power disruptions in Kyiv and Zhytomyr.

Meanwhile, major fuel suppliers in Russia introduced sales restrictions at filling stations across several regions following Ukrainian drone strikes on eight Russian oil refineries over two weeks.

Sources: Belsat, NEXTA, The Insider, Радіо Свобода, Українська правда.