Russia launched a widespread air campaign against Ukraine's energy grid on Wednesday, targeting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions. The attack, which Ukrainian officials said killed seven people, was the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months. Ukraine's state power grid operator Ukrenergo imposed emergency power cuts in Kyiv and three surrounding regions, the first time such a measure had been imposed in the capital since the spring.
The strikes followed days of intensifying drone barrages primarily on the capital, a prelude to what many Ukrainians expect to be a winter of attacks intended to plunge cities into cold and darkness when Ukraine is short of air defences. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said on X that Russia had escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure, adding that since summer, there had barely been a day without an attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Kyiv residents awoke on Wednesday to a city shrouded in fog from the smoke of attacks, which authorities said damaged a key power plant and other energy facilities around the capital. Some of the capital's trams and trolley buses ground to a halt due to the outages as people headed home from work. Kyiv's water utility said pressure in the water system was reduced. A child was among the seven dead across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine's air force said its air defences had intercepted 254 of 285 Russian drones deployed until early evening. It said 174 drones were high-flying and faster jet-propelled models, which are harder to intercept. Russian forces had also launched a ballistic missile attack. Further damage was reported in another five regions, Zelensky added. He visited a military command post near the town of Lyman near the eastern frontline and praised what he said were gains against Russian forces during a counteroffensive.
Russia said its forces had struck power plants in the Kyiv region, an industrial complex in Odesa region, and port infrastructure in Ismail in the southwest. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris had been found at a Western embassy, but offered no further details. The overnight attack triggered a more than 12-hour air-raid alert. Drone strikes continued in Kyiv into the early evening. Near-constant daytime sirens and explosions have become a fixture of daily life in Kyiv.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described Wednesday's attack by Russia as a "deliberate" distraction from its grinding battlefield offensive in eastern Ukraine, which has slowed since last year. He said Moscow is increasing the pressure on Ukrainian civilians as winter approaches, trying once again to turn cold, darkness, and disruption of normal life into weapons. Forecasters say they expect freezing temperatures at night in Kyiv in the coming days.
Koretskyi said he had instructed local authorities to check the readiness of backup power systems at critical facilities and speed up installations. Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on Russia, striking oil refineries and online retailers to undermine its war effort. In Moldova, on Ukraine's western border, the defence ministry said three drones had crossed into its airspace over the course of the day. NATO members Romania and Poland both scrambled military jets in response.
Key points
- Seven people were killed in the attack on Ukraine's energy grid.
- Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy grid have caused power cuts and disruptions to daily life.
- Ukraine's air force intercepted 254 of 285 Russian drones deployed during the attack.
