Oleh Synehubov, governor of the eastern Kharkiv region, said on the Telegram messaging app that repairs were underway after television broadcasting infrastructure had been struck, according to reports.
Authorities in the neighbouring northeastern Sumy region said infrastructure in four cities had come under attack by Iranian-made drones, the Reuters news agency reported.
Officials said a series of Russian strikes targeted radio communication towers in the Sumy region, where a number of transmitters were disabled in four districts, Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform reported.
"Russian criminals launched missile attacks and air strikes against radio transmission facilities in the Sumy region," the Sumy Regional Military Administration said in a statement. "TV and radio transmitters in Sumy, Shostka, Bilopillia and Trostienets were temporarily disabled," it added, as cited by the Ukrinform news agency.
Regional administration head Volodymyr Artiukh said in a public address that "the enemy is waging an information war ... destroying Ukrainian broadcasting," Ukrinform reported.
"We will not allow them to prevail," Artiukh vowed.
He told citizens: "The fallout is currently being analyzed and recovery plans are already being drafted. Do not succumb to panic and media provocations. Switch to alternative communication means and trust only verified information sources."
Ukraine's military said it shot down 22 of the 36 drones launched overnight by Russia.
Five were shot down over Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv and southeastern Dnipropetrovsk regions, local officials said, as cited by Reuters.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Thursday that "there were 79 combat engagements during the day of March 13."
It added that the enemy launched two missile attacks and a total of 64 air strikes and 93 MLRS [Multiple Launch Rocket System] attacks "at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements," killing and wounding civilians, Ukrinform reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 750 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, ukrinform.net