Overnight barrage described as the heaviest combined strike on energy infrastructure in months forces emergency blackouts in Kyiv.
Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight into Wednesday, killing at least seven people, including a child, and forcing emergency power cuts in the capital and surrounding regions as winter approaches.
Ukrainian officials described the attack as the heaviest combined strike on energy sites since the end of the last heating season. The assault involved nearly 190 drones and ballistic missiles, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted five missiles and 155 drones, though several targets were still hit.
Power facilities damaged and blackouts imposed:
The main focus was energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the wider region. Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo imposed emergency power cuts in the capital and three neighbouring regions-the first such measure in Kyiv since spring. Private energy company DTEK reported that supply to thousands of households was disrupted before being partially restored.
Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said a combined strike of this scale had not occurred since the previous winter. “Since summer, there’s barely been a day without an attack on our energy infrastructure,” he noted.
Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed a “massive” overnight operation, saying it had struck power plants, an electrical substation, an energy storage facility and a data centre in the Kyiv area. It also claimed hits on industrial and port infrastructure in the Odesa region. Moscow said the facilities supported Ukraine’s military production and armed forces.
Russian Strikes Kill Seven, Hit Ukraine’s Critical Infrastructure:
Zelenskyy said a child was among the seven dead, with critical infrastructure attacked in five regions and further damage reported in others. In Vyshhorod, near Kyiv, a boy was killed when a private home was hit; three other people were rescued from the rubble. Additional deaths and injuries were reported in the capital itself.
Kyiv residents woke to thick smoke and fog hanging over the city. Debris was found near a Western embassy, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, though details were not immediately released.
The attack comes after days of intensifying drone barrages on the capital and fits a pattern seen in previous winters, when Russia has systematically targeted power generation, substations and heating systems to leave cities without electricity, heat and water during freezing temperatures.
Ukraine has repeatedly called for additional air-defence systems, particularly interceptors capable of stopping ballistic missiles and faster jet-powered drones. Zelenskyy urged allies to accelerate deliveries, saying Russia was betting on “ballistic missile and drone terror” as temperatures drop.
With winter still weeks away, Ukrainian officials and residents are bracing for what many expect will be a renewed campaign of energy strikes. Emergency power cuts and damaged plants have already left parts of the country vulnerable, raising concerns that the coming months could again test both the resilience of the grid and the daily lives of millions of people.