Ukraine is facing widespread power outages after Russia launched a massive overnight aerial assault across the country, killing at least two people, Ukrainian authorities say.
Nine Ukrainian regions came under attack, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the latest assault coming as many were asleep.
State energy company Centrenergo described the barrage as “the most massive strike on our thermal power plants since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”
The Russian attacks came as temperatures dropped into the single-figures celsius across Ukraine.
“The enemy is once again launching massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” said energy minister Svitlana Grynchuk.
Emergency power cuts had been introduced in a number of regions, she added, and would be cancelled when the power system stabilizes. Residents of Kyiv face extensive power cuts through the weekend, according to schedules published by energy companies.
Two people were killed and 11 injured by a drone attack that struck a nine-story apartment building in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine. Video captured the moment the drone struck in the darkness.
“There’s nothing here, just ordinary buildings,” said a woman who gave her name as Maia.
“I don’t know how I survived, because all the shrapnel flew onto the bed where I was sleeping,” said Larysa, another resident of the building.
“We gathered quickly and started to go downstairs. People were screaming. You could already hear screams from the street,” she added.
Altogether, ten people have been killed by Russian strikes in the last 24 hours, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, and nearly 50 injured.
Of the 45 missiles fired by Russia, some of which were ballistic weapons, the Ukrainian air force said only nine had been intercepted. Some 450 drones were also launched.
“26 missiles and 52 strike UAVs [drones] have been recorded hitting 25 locations,” it said, with many of the attacks occurring in the central regions of Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk as well as Kyiv.
“It is extremely difficult to counter ballistic and aero-ballistic missiles,” Zelensky said in his daily address later Saturday. “Only a few systems in the world are capable of intercepting such missiles effectively – and to protect our entire territory, we need far more of these systems and far more of the missiles for them.”
The Ukrainian president said Kyiv was working with the US to purchase additional Patriots, an air defense system that has proved capable in intercepting Russian missiles.
Ukraine has requested more help from allies to replenish its air defenses, as well as longer-range missiles to attack Russian energy and military facilities. Its request for US Tomahawk missiles was turned down by President Donald Trump last month.
Russia’s defense ministry said the strikes had come in response to Ukrainian attacks, and had included Kinzhal ballistic missiles and other weapons in strikes against “enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex and gas and energy facilities of Ukraine that supported their operations.”
The frequent attacks on energy have seriously damaged Ukrainian gas production and caused extensive power cuts across the country. Ukrainian officials have said they’ll have to turn to expensive imports of European gas to make up the shortfall.
“Despite the enemy’s plans, Ukraine will have light and heat this winter,” said energy minister Grynchuk.
The Ukrainian military and security services have also stepped up drone and missile attacks against Russian refineries and other infrastructure such as pipelines and pumping stations in recent months.
On Saturday, Ukrainian drones carried out what one Russian official described as a “massive attack” on energy facilities in the Volgograd region, a frequent target of Ukraine.
A substation was hit, according to Andrey Bocharov, the regional governor, who said power was restored several hours after the strike.
