Russia has launched the largest attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the spring, primarily targeting Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi.
At least six people were killed and 33 others injured across the country in the overnight strikes, including a child in the Kyiv region, local authorities reported.
The strikes also impacted people’s power supplies, with Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, saying power to 8,000 homes had been restored following a “difficult night” for the capital.
Russian officials claimed the Trypilska power station, the largest supplier of electricity to Kyiv, was one of the targets, a claim yet to be corroborated by Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine has been expecting another protracted Russian assault on the country’s energy grid, as such attacks have occurred every winter since the full‑scale invasion in 2022.
In total, 11 regions of the country were attacked overnight, including residential buildings, social infrastructure, civilian enterprises and railways.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said strikes hit critical infrastructure in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Rivne regions.
Power shortages were reported in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Sumy, Kharkiv and other regions, with residents advised to avoid using high‑consumption appliances between 10:00 and 16:00 local time.
In Kyiv, residents woke to thick acrid smoke and the echo of air‑defence gunfire after the explosions. A child was found dead under the rubble of a house, according to the regional governor.
Other casualties included a Ukrainian utility worker killed at a warehouse and fatalities in the Sumy and Mykolaiv regions from drone attacks.
Russia’s invasion began in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, adding to the high stakes of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure being systematically targeted.
