Russia Launches Major Attack on Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure
At least six killed and dozens injured in overnight strikes targeting power facilities across multiple regions.
Russia conducted its most significant assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure since the spring, primarily focusing on Kyiv and its surrounding areas, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi announced. The overnight attacks resulted in at least six deaths and 33 injuries nationwide, including a child in the Kyiv region, according to local authorities.
The strikes disrupted power supplies, with Ukraine's largest private energy firm, DTEK, reporting that electricity had been restored to 8,000 homes in the capital after a "difficult night."
The Russian defense ministry stated that the Trypilska power station, a key electricity provider for Kyiv, was among its targets, although this has not been confirmed by Ukrainian officials.
Koretskyi described the assault as a "mass and combined attack of this scale" not seen since the end of the previous heating season. Ukraine has anticipated such large-scale Russian attacks on its energy grid, a pattern observed each winter since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
In total, 11 Ukrainian regions experienced overnight attacks, which also impacted residential buildings, social infrastructure, civilian enterprises, and railways. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed strikes on critical infrastructure in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, and Rivne regions.
As of Wednesday, some households in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions remained without power, Ukraine's energy ministry reported. The state-owned grid operator Ukrenegro advised residents to avoid using high-consumption electrical appliances between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time due to reduced electricity availability.
Residents in Kyiv awoke to thick, acrid smoke following a night of explosions, with air raid alerts and distant gunfire echoing through the city. Authorities advised residents to keep windows closed until the smoke dissipated.
Among the casualties in Kyiv was a child whose body was discovered under the rubble of a house, according to Kyiv regional governor Timur Tkachenko. Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klischko reported three deaths in the capital, including a utility worker killed at a warehouse. It remains unclear if the child was among these three.
Two individuals were killed in the northeastern Sumy region, and another in the Mykolaiv region, officials reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Russian forces currently control approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.