A massive Russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure early Wednesday left more than 600,000 people without electricity, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, hours after he appealed to Kyiv’s partners for better early warnings of incoming strikes.
Zelensky said Russia launched more than 120 drones and 39 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv, specifically targeting energy facilities. In Kyiv, at least three people were killed and 21 injured, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) said.
FAKTA
- What: Russian missiles and drones struck Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight.
- Where: Kyiv, the Kyiv region and the city of Kharkiv.
- Impact: More than 600,000 people without power; damage to 26 power-system facilities and four oil and gas facilities, according to Zelensky.
- Casualties: At least three killed and 21 injured in Kyiv, the emergency service said.
- Context: Zelensky says the strikes hit the very infrastructure covered by the “energy ceasefire” US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.
Russian strikes Ukraine power grid overnight
Zelensky said the assault caused “significant damage” to equipment at 26 facilities of Ukraine’s power system and four facilities in the oil and gas sector. Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 39 ballistic and cruise missiles and 128 drones overnight, and that air defenses had shot down four of the missiles and 115 of the drones.
Russia’s defense ministry said its “massive” strikes had targeted communications and energy facilities in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions used by Ukraine’s military. It also said Russian forces had downed 902 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions, including Moscow and Crimea, according to the Interfax news agency.
Journalists in the Ukrainian capital reported hearing multiple explosions through the night.
Energy ceasefire claim
On Sunday, President Trump wrote on social media: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Zelensky said the overnight strikes hit “the very infrastructure covered by the ceasefire announced by the American President.”
Zelensky has said Ukraine is ready to halt its strikes on Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities if Moscow does the same. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Ukraine does not deserve the “respite” a ceasefire would bring, arguing that under any truce Europe would be able to supply Ukraine with new weapons.
No advance warning, Zelensky says
Hours before the overnight attack, Zelensky said his government had received “no early warning from our partners” before a deadly ballistic missile strike hit a major power plant in Kyiv and damaged a residential building on Tuesday. He said Ukraine’s air defenses had detected those missiles only when they were “virtually on approach to Kyiv.”
“This is absolutely unjust: when they [Russia] are destroying our energy infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches,” he said. Intelligence from the United States and other partners helps Ukraine track Russian missile launchers and flight paths.
For more on the war’s wider developments, see Watan News Europe coverage.
