Russia unleashed a punishing overnight barrage of missiles and drones on Ukraine, killing at least six people and plunging hundreds of thousands into darkness — an assault President Volodymyr Zelensky said showed “ostentatious disrespect” for US President Donald Trump’s push for peace.
The hours-long attack focused heavily on Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and struck 30 energy facilities, Mr Zelensky said. He added that at least 600,000 people were left without power.
Mr Trump, who last week lifted sanctions on Russian diesel in a move aimed at bringing down politically sensitive fuel prices, has said Russia and Ukraine agreed to stop hitting energy infrastructure — a claim neither Moscow nor Kyiv has confirmed.
“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
“Russia does not consider the American President’s statements strong.”
Russia’s defence ministry said it hit four power plants in and around Kyiv and two in Kharkiv, along with other targets.
A man stands in front of a smoking apartment building while firefighters work following fresh strikes on Kyiv
The nationwide wave of strikes came after Mr Zelensky said Ukraine had not been given any advance warning by Western allies ahead of a Russian strike on a Kyiv power plant.
Ukraine depends heavily on Western intelligence to spot incoming Russian attacks and to help pinpoint targets for its own strikes, but fresh signs of strain with Mr Trump have raised questions about how reliably those arrangements will hold.
In the capital, Ukraine’s state emergency service said a strike on a multi-storey building in the Desnianskyi district killed two people, while another attack in the Golosiivsky district killed one.
Ukrainian military authorities also said Russian attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed two people and wounded six.
One more person was reported killed in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
AFP reporters in Kyiv described hearing repeated overnight blasts, and said electricity and water were cut in the eastern parts of the city.
“Energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region have come under a massive ballistic missile strike. There are power disruptions in the capital,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram, calling on residents to stay in shelters.
DTEK, the country’s largest private energy provider, said on the same platform that emergency outages hit the “Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Pecherskyi and Solomianskyi districts, as well as in part of the Golosiivsky district”.
People watch as firefighters battle a blaze at a residential building hit by a Russian missile in Kyiv
Officials also reported further Russian ballistic missile strikes in the Kharkiv and Zhytomyr regions, while other attacks hit Sumy and Chernigiv.
In Russia, the governor of the Saratov region, citing preliminary estimates, said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in the city of Balakovo.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defences shot down nearly 500 drones headed toward the Russian capital overnight.
Russian authorities said roughly 160 more drones were downed over the Rostov region, while others were also aimed at Moscow.
No advance warning
Earlier, Mr Zelensky said a Russian strike on a Kyiv power facility yesterday evening came without any advance warning from Western partners.
“A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, no early warning from our partners.
“The main target was energy infrastructure, specifically the CHP-4. Unfortunately, it was hit,” he wrote on Facebook.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine’s systems detected the missiles only as they approached the city.
“This is absolutely unjust: when they are destroying our infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches,” he added.
Kyiv, a city of about three million people, has faced intensifying drone and missile attacks, with energy infrastructure repeatedly in the crosshairs.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine suffered ballistic missile attacks with no warning from partners
Overnight from Monday to yesterday, residents in Kyiv heard explosions from Russian strikes before air raid sirens sounded — a sequence that has occurred only rarely.
Ukrainian officials said the disruption could be linked to Russia using missiles that are difficult to detect, or to possible technical problems.
Mr Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on Sunday via his Truth Social network, saying Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to stop long-range attacks that have battered power infrastructure.
Mr Zelensky said he was taken aback by the announcement, and later argued that subsequent strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities were Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “answer” to what Mr Trump had declared.
Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Mr Zelensky over attacks on Russian oil refineries and on Saturday suggested it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president”.
The US president has also faced criticism from Mr Zelensky and political blowback at home after announcing plans last week to buy diesel from Russia despite wartime sanctions on Moscow.
Low missile interception rate
Ukraine said it intercepted only four of 39 missiles, underscoring how Kyiv’s air defences have been strained against fast ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones as weapons supplies run short.
Russia has intensified strikes on Ukrainian cities ahead of winter as it struggles on the battlefield, fuelling fears of broad disruptions to power and heating across the country.
Ukraine, for its part, has stepped up attacks on Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs in recent months, describing them as one of the few ways to respond to more than four and a half years of Russian bombardment.
Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said today’s Russian attacks also struck state railway facilities in five regions of Ukraine.
Mr Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for higher fuel costs, particularly diesel, which has reached record levels since his war against Iran disrupted global oil supply.
Sources have told Reuters and other news organisations that the US threatened to cut off intelligence used for early warning of missile attacks unless Kyiv stopped hitting Russian oil refineries.
Mr Zelenskiy previously said Ukraine also received no warning from Western partners before an earlier overnight strike on the capital. Mr Trump said on Tuesday that Washington was still sharing intelligence.
Burnham to meet Zelensky in UK
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to welcome Mr Zelensky to Downing Street in a public show of support following Mr Trump’s diesel deal with Russia.
Mr Burnham is expected to use the visit to announce faster military assistance for Ukraine and to promise further rounds of sanctions aimed at Moscow.
The accelerated support includes speedier deliveries of British lightweight multirole missiles, which have proven effective against Russian jet-powered drones.
The UK will urge allies to intensify pressure on Russia, with Chancellor John Healey using IMF meetings in Bangkok to call for a ban on Russian liquified natural gas (LNG).
Andy Burnham said the UK is with Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’
Before meeting Mr Zelensky, Mr Burnham said Britain’s backing for Ukraine remained “rock solid” and was “vital for keeping us safe here in the UK”.
“My message to the Ukrainian people could not be clearer: we are with you for as long as it takes, and we will go further and faster in our support to back your courageous fight for peace in Europe,” he said.
The Downing Street meeting follows what Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called a “very difficult few days” in relations with Washington after Mr Trump moved to ease sanctions on Russian diesel as US midterm elections approach amid rising fuel prices.
After reports of the deal, the UK pledged to “maintain pressure on Russia”, and Mr Burnham called Mr Zelensky on Saturday to express his “complete solidarity” with Kyiv.
In recent days, the US president has also suggested Ukraine needs new leadership and has said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a peace deal more than the government in Kyiv.
Additional reporting PA
