KYIV — At least six people were killed after Russia launched a massive overnight barrage of missiles and exploding drones on cities and energy infrastructure across Ukraine, officials said Saturday.
Two people died and 12 were wounded when a strike hit an apartment building in Dnipro, while three others were killed in Zaporizhzhia.
In total, 25 locations across the country — including Kyiv — were struck, leaving widespread power outages and heating disruptions as winter approaches.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said major energy facilities were damaged in the Poltava, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, with emergency crews working to restore electricity.
The Energy Ministry reported power cuts in the Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Kirovohrad regions, though critical infrastructure has been reconnected using generators.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched more than 450 bomber drones and 45 missiles. Nine missiles and 406 drones were reportedly intercepted.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces shot down 79 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow has argued that its repeated strikes on Ukraine’s energy system are aimed at military targets, a justification Kyiv rejects.
The latest attacks underscore concerns in Kyiv that Russia is seeking not only to undermine civilian morale but also to bring Ukraine’s economy to a halt by crippling its energy grid. Analysts say the fourth winter of Russia’s full-scale invasion will be a major test of Ukraine’s air defenses and infrastructure resilience.
President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by calling for tougher Western measures.
He said there must be “no exceptions” in sanctions targeting Russian energy, arguing that Moscow uses revenue from oil and gas sales to build drones and missiles used in such attacks.
His comments followed the US decision to grant Hungary a one-year exemption from restrictions on purchasing Russian energy — an announcement made during Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Washington.
“For every Moscow strike on energy infrastructure — aimed at harming ordinary people before winter — there must be a sanctions response targeting all Russian energy, with no exceptions,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, urging additional action from the US, Europe and the G7. — Agencies
