Russia launches 'major' attack on Ukraine's infrastructure

A “massive” attack by Russian missiles and drones has also targeted electrical infrastructure across Ukraine, the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

At least 10 people died in the strikes, which hit the capital, Kyiv, and several regions including Donetsk, Lviv and Odesa.

Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said its thermal power plants had suffered “significant damage”, leading to blackouts.

The state-owned power company, Ukrenergo, said it would implement “restrictive measures” across Ukraine on Monday.

The coordinated attack on Saturday night was the largest since early September, according to authorities and local media.

In total, 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, Zelensky told Telegram.

“Peaceful cities, sleeping citizens” and “critical infrastructure” were targeted, said Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that it had achieved all of its targets, saying that the attack was on “critical energy infrastructure that supports Ukraine's military-industrial complex”.

“Russian terrorists again wanted to scare us with cold and lack of light,” is how President Zelensky put it.

Of course, anything that wants to deny power to weapons factories hurts civilians indirectly – indirectly, through the loss of electricity and water in general, and directly, as missiles or fragments of missiles fall from the sky.

The governor of Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said that there was a disruption of heat and water, although this is gradually being restored. Hospitals and other important infrastructures were running using generators.

To the east, the city of Mykolaiv was also hit. The leader of this region, Vitaliy Kim, told the BBC that the people there are strong, even though they are constantly attacked.

“People are in good shape and want to protect themselves, we don't want to lose our homes,” he said.

In Kyiv, fragments of intercepted missiles and drones fell in several places, but there were no reports of injuries.

The attack was the eighth major attack on Ukrainian power plants this year, DTEK said in a statement, adding that its plants have been attacked more than 190 times since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials fear the latest strike could signal another concerted effort by Russia to disrupt the power grid as winter approaches.

Having endured two and a half bitter winters since the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Ukrainians are preparing for another.

“Here we go again” were the words of one of Ukraine's private energy companies, summarizing the situation of the entire country on Sunday.

With sheer ingenuity and determination, Ukraine has managed to survive each winter invasion so far. There is every chance that it will again, although its production capacity is now less than half of what it was in February 2022.

Poland, Ukraine's neighbor to the west, has scrambled to monitor its aircraft as a security measure.

“Due to the massive offensive by Russia, which is conducting strikes using cruise missiles, missiles and drones against areas located, among other places, in western Ukraine, operations of Polish and allied aircraft have begun,” said the Polish Operational Command.

Hungary, which neighbors Ukraine and Poland, was also on alert after drone attacks hit the western Subcarpathian region – about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Hungarian border.

The country's defense minister said “the situation is being monitored closely”.

The latest attack comes as both Ukraine and Russia continue to try to anticipate how US President-elect Donald Trump will act when his administration takes office in January.

Trump has consistently said that his priority is to end the war and what he describes as a withdrawal of US resources with military aid to Kyiv. He hasn't said how.

The US has been the largest supplier of arms to Ukraine. Between the start of the war and the end of June 2024, it delivered or committed to send weapons and equipment worth $55.5bn (£41.5bn), according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank.

There are fears in Kyiv that it may come under pressure to negotiate an end to the war that could favor Russia's advances – Moscow continues to control much of Ukraine.

Zelensky said he is sure the war with Russia will “end soon” than it would have under a new Trump presidency.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently told Russian state media about “positive” signs from the administration entering the US. But Russia has denied that the call took place when it was reported that Donald Trump warned the Russian president about the escalation of the war.

However, for all the talk of possible changes when Donald Trump enters the White House, Sunday's attack seems to show that, for now, the harsh realities of war do not change.

Meanwhile, the German leader – another ally of Ukraine – defended the phone call he had with Putin on Friday, which Kyiv criticized as an attempt at appeasement.

“It was important to tell him [Putin] that he should not rely on the support of Germany, Europe and many others in the world so that Ukraine is reduced, but now it is up to him to ensure that the war ends,” said Olaf Scholz on Sunday.

He added that the Russian president has not shown any signs of changing his thinking about the war.