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Russia launches one of its largest attacks on Ukraine's grid, Zelenskyy warns of blackout
More than 320 drones and a volley of missiles struck power plants and substations overnight, cutting electricity in seven western and central cities as winter approaches.
Key points
- Russia launched 332 drones and several missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
- Zelenskyy said more than 15 power generation and transmission sites were targeted.
- At least eight people were killed across Ukraine over the past day, regional officials said.
Russia launched one of its biggest attacks yet on Ukraine’s power system overnight into Saturday, sending hundreds of drones and a volley of missiles at power plants and substations and plunging several cities into darkness.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 15 critical generation and transmission facilities were targeted, calling it one of Russia’s largest attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector. The worst damage was in seven cities in the west and centre of the country: Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Shepetivka, Slavuta and Netishyn. Energy facilities in the Kharkiv, Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions were also hit.
“Russia is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine just before winter,” Zelenskyy said.
Twelve hours of strikes
Zelenskyy said more than 320 drones, along with loitering munitions and cruise and ballistic missiles, were launched between 7 pm on Friday and 7 am on Saturday. The Ukrainian Air Force counted 332 attack drones, 31 of them jet-powered, four Kalibr cruise missiles, Iskander-M or North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, and Kh-22 and Kh-32 cruise missiles.
Air defences brought down 293 targets, including all four Kalibr missiles and 289 drones. Strikes were recorded at 22 locations, and debris fell at three more.
Ukrenergo, the national grid operator, ordered emergency power cuts in several regions and said its published outage schedules would not apply where the damage was worst. In Vinnytsia, Mayor Serhiy Morhunov said the city had lost electricity and that critical infrastructure had switched to backup power. The region’s governor described it as one of the largest attacks on Vinnytsia since the full-scale invasion began. Six people were injured there.
Deaths across the country
At least eight people were killed across Ukraine over the past day, according to regional officials. Two died in the Kharkiv region, two in Kramatorsk, and two in the Dnipropetrovsk region, including a man killed when an industrial site in Dnipro was hit.
In Kherson, a Russian air strike on the Korabelnyi district killed a 64-year-old ambulance driver, said Yaroslav Shanko, who heads the military administration there. In Slovyansk, Russian forces dropped FAB-250 aerial bombs on a residential area, hitting two apartment blocks. One person was killed and 10 were wounded, and rescuers searched the rubble for anyone trapped.
A widening war over energy
The attack came days after a US-announced pause on strikes against energy facilities collapsed, and hours after President Donald Trump waived new US sanctions on Russia. Zelenskyy said the waiver would ease pressure on Moscow and bring “financial rewards for Putin”.
Ukraine has kept up its own strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. One of the main units at Russia’s Ryazan refinery was reported to have halted operations after a drone attack.
Repair crews were working on Saturday to restore supplies.