Russia launched a massive overnight barrage against Ukraine’s energy grid and railway network, firing 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones at Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The strikes hit 26 sites in the country’s power system and four oil-and-gas facilities, leaving at least 600,000 people without electricity.
Key Takeaways
- Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and over 120 attack drones overnight at Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv, hitting 26 power-system sites and four oil-and-gas facilities, according to President Zelenskyy.
- At least 600,000 people were left without power; Ukrainian railways also reported strikes on its facilities, according to Reuters.
- The assault came two days after US President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” — which Zelenskyy said was his first news of, and which Moscow has never confirmed.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed the idea, saying Ukraine does not “deserve a respite” — while Zelenskyy said Ukraine has refrained from striking Russian energy sites since Sunday.
What happened overnight
According to Zelenskyy, Russian forces launched a targeted, large-scale assault on the energy infrastructure that Trump said was covered by the ceasefire. “The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale,” the Ukrainian president said, accusing Moscow of showing “ostentatious disrespect” toward the United States.
Destruction in Kharkiv after a Russian attack, 2024. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
Facilities belonging to Ukraine’s state railway were also hit in the overnight attack, the railway’s CEO said, as cited by Reuters. Advisers to Zelenskyy separately said the Starlink satellite system had restricted operations in Ukraine overnight — a claim that adds to tensions over battlefield communications. Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter in past years, and officials warned outages could spread further as damage was assessed.
The “energy ceasefire” nobody confirmed
Trump announced the arrangement on Sunday in a brief social media post, saying both sides had agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure “effective immediately” and adding: “Do not break it!” But Zelenskyy said Trump’s post was his first news of the deal, and Ukraine was ready to honor it if Russia agreed.
Moscow has never confirmed the agreement. Asked about it on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would only say: “Contacts are ongoing.” Asked about the Russian strikes, Trump told reporters at the White House: “Well, I’d have to look at it and see, because there’s been violations on both sides.”
This is not the first such arrangement to fizzle. Trump previously announced a similar agreement on energy strikes in September, saying both countries had agreed “not to hit” each other’s energy infrastructure — but offered no details, and that proposal never took hold either.
Will the Russia-Ukraine energy ceasefire hold?
For now, the ceasefire exists only as a claim from Washington. Zelenskyy said his government had refrained from striking Russian energy sites since Trump’s announcement and described the energy ceasefire as “a good first step” toward ending the war — but added: “I’m not sure that Putin is ready.” Lavrov, meanwhile, framed the proposal as a ploy for Ukraine to regroup and rearm. With winter approaching and both sides’ grids exposed, the next days of strikes will show whether any truce is real.
Reporting: The Associated Press, Reuters, NPR.
Related reading: Trump Announces “Energy Ceasefire” Between Russia and Ukraine — Zelenskyy Says It’s News to Him and Starlink Curbs Ukraine Service Amid Russian Missile Blitz.
