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Trump says Russia has been 'fine' on Ukraine after strikes on 28 energy sites
Zelenskyy said more than half a million homes lost power and Ukraine got no early warning from partners, as Washington, Moscow and Beijing talk of a summit without Kyiv.
Key points
- Russia hit 28 substations and other critical energy facilities, cutting power to at least 550,000 households, Zelenskyy said.
- Trump told reporters Russia had "been fine on Ukraine" hours after a drone strike on a park killed six people.
- Kyiv says partners gave no early warning before the first wave of ballistic missiles.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Russia had “been fine on Ukraine”, hours after Russian missiles and drones knocked out 28 substations and other critical energy facilities across the country and a daytime drone strike on a park in the Kharkiv region killed six people, among them children.
“Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House. He said he was open to a three-way meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but that its main purpose would be nuclear disarmament, not Ukraine. He defended his recent dealings with Moscow, including the sanctions waivers, saying Washington was negotiating with the Kremlin over the release of a high-profile hostage, and praised Putin for “laying off Iran”.
A grid under fire
The overnight attack was one of the heaviest on Ukraine’s power system this autumn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region and more than 200 drones in several waves. Energy facilities were hit in 11 regions, from Volyn and Rivne in the west to Kharkiv and Odesa, and at least 550,000 households lost power. A 21-year-old woman was killed in the capital.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 269 drones overnight, of which 243 were shot down or neutralised. First Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov counted 87 attacks on the energy, oil and gas sectors in the past week alone. Zelenskyy said Russia had attacked those sectors 76 times since Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on 11 October.
“The reality is that the war continues, and it continues solely because of Russian strikes,” Zelenskyy said.
No warning, then a late one
Kyiv’s sharpest complaint was about intelligence. Air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said no warning came from partners before the first wave at about 11 pm, and word of the second wave around 3 am arrived too late to sound the sirens. He said the same had happened during the 14 October attack.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, said he could not confirm Kyiv’s account. “I don’t know. I mean, where did it happen last night? I don’t know exactly,” he said, adding that a software problem had affected Ukraine’s early warning system a few nights earlier. Trump has said Washington has not stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine faces a critical shortage of Patriot interceptors. He has said the United States is supplying about 12 a month and holding back missiles that NATO allies have already paid for.
A summit without Kyiv
US and Russian officials say talks continue on a possible meeting of Trump, Putin and Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, next month, without Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was “no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia “could help end the war sooner”, while one between Russia, China and the US would “do only the opposite”. He called Putin “a war criminal”.
Repair crews were working to restore power on Tuesday where security allowed, though long air raid alerts were slowing the work, the Energy Ministry said.