Russia launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Ukraine in months, sending about 120 missiles and 90 drones toward cities and infrastructure across the country, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. At least 10 people were reported killed as damage to the power system prompted plans for nationwide electricity restrictions.
The coordinated overnight assault struck Kyiv and targets in several regions, including Donetsk, Lviv and Odesa. Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said its thermal power plants sustained significant damage. State grid operator Ukrenergo announced that restriction measures would be imposed across Ukraine on Monday.
In the Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper reported interruptions to heating and water. Water service was gradually returning, while hospitals and other essential facilities relied on generators. Mykolaiv was also hit. In Kyiv, wreckage from intercepted missiles and drones fell in several locations, although authorities reported no injuries there.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the operation struck all intended targets and described them as energy facilities supporting Ukraine's military-industrial complex. Ukrainian officials said the barrage hit critical infrastructure and civilian areas. The competing descriptions could not be independently reconciled from the supplied reports, but both sides' accounts identified the energy system as central to the attack.
DTEK called it the eighth large-scale attack on Ukrainian energy facilities during 2024 and said its plants had been attacked more than 190 times since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine's remaining generating capacity was reported at less than half its level at the start of that invasion, adding to fears that sustained attacks could deepen shortages during winter.
The scale and geographic spread of the barrage also prompted precautionary action beyond Ukraine. Poland scrambled Polish and allied fighter aircraft because Russian cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones were striking targets that included western Ukraine. Hungary said it was continuously monitoring the situation after drone attacks in Ukraine's westernmost region, about 20 kilometers from the Hungarian border.
The attack came as Kyiv and Moscow assessed how the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump might change the war's diplomatic and military trajectory. Trump had said ending the conflict would be a priority but had not detailed how he would pursue that goal. Sunday's barrage showed that, regardless of those political calculations, the immediate pressure on Ukraine's grid and civilian infrastructure remained acute as winter approached.
The strike followed two and a half winters of attacks and emergency repairs. Ukrainian energy workers had repeatedly restored services, but each new round reduced the margin for recovery. Officials feared that another concentrated winter campaign could affect electricity as well as water and heating, extending the consequences beyond facilities directly struck.
