Russia carried out a large overnight air attack into Saturday, launching more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles aimed at Ukraine’s energy sector, Ukrainian officials said. The strikes hit power generation and electricity distribution infrastructure and prompted emergency power cuts and a request for electricity assistance from Poland as temperatures were forecast to fall in coming days.
Russian forces launched a major overnight air assault into Saturday, nearly four years after Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles of various types, targeting the power grid, generation facilities and distribution substations. In a post on X, Zelenskyy wrote: “Every day, Russia could choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new strikes.” He added: “It is crucial that everyone who supports the trilateral negotiations respond to this. Moscow must be deprived of the ability to use the cold as leverage against Ukraine.” (dailywire.com)
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said the strikes hit two thermal power stations in Ukraine’s western regions and damaged core elements of the electricity distribution system, including substations and key distribution lines. “Russian criminals carried out another massive attack on Ukraine’s energy facilities,” he said on Telegram, adding that repair crews would begin work once the security situation allows. (dailywire.com)
The attacks came as temperatures were forecast to fall to around minus 14 degrees Celsius in the coming days, increasing risks for households already experiencing power disruptions. (dailywire.com)
Officials in western Ukraine reported strikes or impacts in the Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions. Authorities said the Burshtyn and Dobrotvir thermal power plants were among the facilities hit. (dailywire.com)
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said equipment at its thermal power plants suffered significant damage and described the strike as the 10th attack on its thermal stations since October 2025. (dailywire.com)
Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv region, warned that outages could last longer because energy facilities have been repeatedly targeted, and said air alerts lasted more than six hours in the region. (dailywire.com)
Ukrainian officials said emergency power cuts were introduced nationwide, and Shmyhal said the government asked Poland for emergency electricity imports to support the grid. In Poland, authorities temporarily suspended operations at two airports in the country’s southeast as a precaution before later resuming flights. (dailywire.com)
The strike came days after another round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending the war, which Ukrainian and U.S. officials say has not produced tangible results so far. Russia did not immediately comment on the latest attack. (dailywire.com)
