Russia Launches Largest Attack on Ukraine's Energy Grid Since Spring

On Wednesday, Russia carried out its biggest combined assault on Ukraine's power system since last season's heating period ended, hitting Kyiv and ten additional regions with close to 190 drones and missiles; the strikes killed seven people, including a child, and prompted the capital to impose emergency power cuts for the first time since spring.¹²³⁵

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Strikes across eleven regions

Officials characterized the nighttime assault as the most severe combined strike on energy facilities in several months. Nearly 190 drones and missiles were used, with critical infrastructure attacked directly in five regions and further damage reported in five more. Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had targeted the Trypilska power station, which officials describe as the largest supplier of electricity to Kyiv.³²⁶⁵

Seven people were killed in the strikes, including a child, according to regional officials. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said: "Three people were killed in total in the capital, including a Ukrainian utility company worker who was killed at a warehouse building." Sumy region governor Oleh Hryhorov said two people died there, adding that "a school was also hit there in a separate strike." Mykolaiv's acting governor, Heorhiy Reshetilov, reported one death in his region. The BBC reported a different overall toll of six people killed and 33 injured nationwide, a figure not repeated by other outlets in the dossier.³²⁶¹

Power cuts and intercepted drones

Ukraine's grid operator, Ukrenergo, imposed emergency power cuts in Kyiv for the first time since spring, halting tram and trolleybus services in the capital and triggering a 12-hour air-raid alert. Residents were advised to avoid using high-power appliances between 10:00 and 16:00 local time. The energy company DTEK said it had restored electricity to 8,000 homes following the attacks.⁵⁷

Ukraine's air force said it downed five missiles and 155 drones, while separate reporting said more than 380 drones were intercepted overnight nationwide. Debris from intercepted munitions was found at a Western embassy in Kyiv, and drone strikes are reported to have killed around a dozen people in the capital over the preceding week. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said the civil-defence system had "completely failed," amid what officials described as a critical shortage of urban shelters.⁵⁷²⁶

A long campaign against the grid

Al Jazeera reported that Russia has conducted over 1,900 strikes against Ukraine's power system since launching its full-scale invasion, with the grid now able to cover just 60 percent of the country's electricity needs as of late January. Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, stated: "At the moment, the enemy produces daily 404 'Shaheds' of different kinds. And the plans are to increase that. The enemy plans to boost production significantly, up to 1,000 drones a day." The same source indicates aerial and drone assaults against Ukraine climbed from roughly 6,000 in 2023 to nearly 16,000 in 2024, exceeding 29,000 in 2025.⁴

Officials respond

Serhiy Koretskyi, Ukraine's prime minister, remarked: "Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure. He noted that since summer, almost no day has passed without an attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. He added that an assault combining this many strikes hasn't occurred since last season's heating period concluded. President Volodymyr Zelensky said energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding area was the main target, and described operations in the east as "a serious operation, important in many ways for our defence overall and in Donbas in particular." Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow was "increasing the pressure on Ukrainian civilians as winter approaches, trying once again to turn cold, darkness, and disruption of normal life into weapons," and separately called the strikes a "deliberate distraction from its grinding battlefield offensive in eastern Ukraine."²⁶⁵³

The Guardian reported, citing analyst Denys Sienik, that Russia is rapidly expanding a satellite network known as Rassvet, intended to begin operations in 2027. Sienik said: "If these entities are not sanctioned, it will actually make this program possible for Russia and that will be a gamechanger." The same briefing noted remarks from Pope Leo on nuclear weapons and wars "becoming ever more destructive." These claims come from a single source in the dossier.³