Russian overnight strikes damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving more than 600,000 people without power in Dnipropetrovsk and 250,000 in Kharkiv, ahead of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
Russian overnight strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity on Sunday, ahead of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
More than 600,000 people in Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region were without electricity after a Russian overnight attack on an energy facility, according to power company DTEK. Residents in the Pavlohrad, Samarivskyi, Kamianske and Dnipro districts, as well as the city of Dnipro, faced outages. DTEK said engineers were at the scene attempting to restore the damaged facility, but "repairs are being complicated by repeated attacks."
Another 250,000 people in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine were left without power after Russia struck an infrastructure facility there. Mykola Baksheyev, mayor of Zlatopil city, said on Telegram that "No casualties have been reported." He added that power engineers were working to repair the damage, but the exact timeframe for restoring electricity remained unknown.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 12 Ukrainian regions came under attack, with Kyiv hit hardest. The wave of attacks consisted of more than 30 ballistic missiles and over 170 drones. Zelensky said Moscow was preparing for the talks by launching attacks on Ukraine's "critical infrastructure."
The attacks damaged electricity transmission lines, residential buildings, and key transport infrastructure, including Kyiv's major bridge over the Dnipro River. Substations connecting the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine were struck. Substations were also damaged in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.
Nine people were reported hurt across the country, including one child. A kindergarten in Kyiv's Solomyansky district was severely damaged.
Russia's Ministry of Defence stated on its Telegram channel that its forces will "continue to carry out strikes against Ukrainian fuel and energy infrastructure facilities" that they say are used to aid the Ukrainian military. Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed its strikes on Kyiv, claiming the targeted bridge was used to transport weapons and military equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Zelenskyy has accused Russia of intensifying attacks to put pressure on Kyiv at United States-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The Kremlin has previously raised concerns over its security in relation to European countries as another obstacle to a diplomatic resolution of its invasion of Ukraine. Trump's envoy Jared Kushner said the talks would respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country, adding that no state would have a veto over another's security choices or alliances, with NATO remaining central to European collective defense.
The strikes come as temperatures drop and Ukraine braces for another harsh winter of war. Damage to both regional facilities and national transmission lines means power cuts are affecting large parts of the country, with no restoration date given for the Kharkiv region and repairs complicated by repeated attacks in Dnipropetrovsk.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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