KIEV, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's nuclear power plants have been forced to reduce their power generating capacity due to large-scale Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.
The plants will gradually return to normal operating levels once energy workers repair the damaged power grid, the ministry said in a statement.
The latest attacks have left consumers without electricity in six regions, while scheduled power outages are in effect across most of the country.
The electricity shortage is particularly severe in the capital and the surrounding region, where energy infrastructure has sustained significant damage. Repair crews are working around the clock to restore a stable power supply, the ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that Russia had launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles in an attack targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight on Tuesday.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that during the previous night, air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 496 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over some regions, as well as over the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. ■