Russia has carried out its largest combined attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure since the spring, striking power facilities in and around Kyiv and several other regions and prompting emergency power cuts in the capital. Ukrainian officials reported that at least five people were killed in the overnight strikes, a toll that Ukrainian authorities later put at seven, including a child found under the rubble of a house in the Kyiv region.
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said there had been "barely a day" without attacks on energy infrastructure since the summer, but that a combined strike of this scale had not happened since the end of the last heating season. Eleven regions were hit, according to the government. Russia's defence ministry said its targets included the Trypilska thermal power plant, about 40 km from Kyiv and one of the capital's main electricity suppliers, which it claimed served Ukrainian defence facilities. The plant's operator, Centrenergo, confirmed damage and said it was assessing the extent. Moscow also said it struck an industrial complex in the Odesa region and port infrastructure in Ismail, in the southwest. Russia denies targeting civilians, although it has repeatedly hit cities and towns.
The grid operator Ukrenergo imposed emergency outages in Kyiv and three surrounding regions, the first such measure in the capital since spring, and urged residents to avoid powerful appliances between 10:00 and 16:00. Some trams and trolley buses stopped, and water pressure fell. DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said it had restored power to 8,000 homes after what it called a difficult night. Residents woke to thick smoke over the city, and air-raid alerts lasted more than 12 hours. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 254 of 285 drones launched, but 174 were faster, high-flying jet-powered models that are harder to stop. Elsewhere, a Russian drone landed in a Kyiv children's playground without exploding, and bomb disposal experts safely removed it. Three drones also entered Moldova's airspace, and Romania and Poland scrambled jets.
The attack was widely expected. Russia has targeted Ukraine's power system every winter since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022, and last winter's record cold left power and heating badly damaged. Ukraine has been building protective structures and diversifying generation, and Koretskyi ordered checks on backup power at critical facilities. Yet the human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said there is a critical shortage of urban shelters and that the civil-defence system has "completely failed". Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow was trying to turn cold and darkness into weapons as winter nears.
On the battlefield, Zelensky visited troops near Lyman, in the eastern Donetsk region, and said Ukrainian forces had retaken 176 sq km in a counter-offensive. Elsewhere the front line remains largely static. Ukraine has also stepped up strikes on Russian targets, including oil refineries, while Russia says it downed more than 380 Ukrainian drones overnight.