Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reported a “massive” Russian missile and drone attack targeting power infrastructure across the country.
The strikes, which hit the capital Kyiv and several regions including Donetsk, Lviv, and Odesa, claimed the lives of at least 10 people.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, confirmed that its thermal energy plants sustained “significant damage,” leading to emergency blackouts.
Authorities and local media described the attack as the most extensive coordinated assault since early September, with approximately 120 missiles and 90 drones launched, according to Zelensky’s statement on Telegram.
“Peaceful cities, sleeping civilians” and “critical infrastructure” were targeted, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
The governor of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said there had also been disruptions to heat and water supplies, although the latter was gradually being restored. Hospitals and other critical infrastructure were operating using generators.
Further east, the city of Mykolaiv was also hit. The region’s leader, Vitaliy Kim, told the BBC that the people were resilient there, despite being attacked regularly.
“People are in a good shape and want to defend themselves. We do not want to lose our homes,” he said.
In Kyiv, fragments from intercepted missiles and drones fell in several places, but there were no reports of injuries.
The attack was the eighth large-scale one targeting Ukraine’s energy facilities this year, DTEK said in a statement, adding that its plants had been attacked more than 190 times since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials fear the most recent strike could signal another concerted Russian attempt to deplete the power grid as winter arrives, causing yet another difficult winter.
Poland, Ukraine’s neighbour to the west, scrambled fighter jets to patrol its own airspace as a security precaution.
“Due to a massive attack by Russia, which is carrying out strikes using cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones against sites located, among other places, in western Ukraine, operations by Polish and allied aircraft have begun,” , Poland’s Operational Command said.
Hungary, which shares borders with Ukraine and Poland, remains on high alert following drone strikes in Ukraine’s Subcarpathian region, just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from its border.
Hungary’s defense minister stated that the “situation is being monitored continuously.”
These developments come as both Ukraine and Russia anticipate how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will approach the conflict once his administration assumes power in January.
Trump has emphasized his priority to end the war and reduce what he calls the strain of U.S. military aid to Kyiv, though specifics remain unclear.
The U.S. has been Ukraine’s largest arms supplier, providing or committing $55.5 billion (£41.5 billion) in weapons and equipment since the war began, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
However, concerns in Kyiv persist that Ukraine may face pressure to negotiate an end to the war, potentially favoring Russia’s territorial gains.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed optimism, suggesting the war could “end sooner” under Trump’s presidency.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned “positive” signals from the incoming U.S. administration but dismissed reports of a phone call where Trump allegedly warned President Vladimir Putin against further escalation.
Meanwhile, the leader of Germany – another Ukrainian ally – has defended a phone call he had with Putin on Friday, something Kyiv criticised as an attempt at appeasement.
“It was important to tell him [Putin] that he should not count on the support of Germany, Europe and many others in the world for Ukraine waning, but that it is now also up to him to ensure that the war comes to an end,” Olaf Scholz said on Sunday.
He added that the Russian president had given no indication of a shift in his thinking on the war.