Overnight missile and drone attacks by Russian forces have left six people dead in Ukraine and caused widespread disruption to homes and essential services.
The strikes targeted energy infrastructure and residential buildings, intensifying fears as the country heads into winter.
In Dnipro, two people died and 12 others were injured when an apartment block was hit, while three fatalities were reported in Zaporizhzhia. Across the country, 25 sites, including areas in Kyiv, faced damage, leaving many residents without electricity and heating. Emergency crews raced to repair critical systems as communities struggled to cope with the sudden loss of services.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted on Telegram that major energy facilities in the Poltava, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions had sustained damage, but restoration work was already under way.
She added that essential services, including water supply, were being maintained using generators and backup systems, and that priority had been given to reconnecting critical infrastructure.
According to the Ukrainian Energy Ministry, power outages were reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Kirovohrad regions. Efforts to restore electricity and heating continued, but the attacks have left many households vulnerable during the cold months ahead.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched more than 450 explosive drones and 45 missiles overnight. Ukrainian forces intercepted nine missiles and 406 drones, while Moscow claimed it had shot down 79 Ukrainian drones during the same period.
Russia has defended its operations as targeting military infrastructure, but the attacks have clearly affected civilians. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes proved the urgency of tough international sanctions on Russian energy.
In a Telegram message, he stated: “for every (one of) Moscow's strike on energy infrastructure - aimed at harming ordinary people before winter - there must be a sanctions response targeting all Russian energy, with no exceptions.” He said Ukraine expected “relevant decisions from the US, Europe and the G7.”
The attacks came shortly after the US granted Hungary a one-year waiver on restrictions for buying Russian oil and gas. Earlier this year, the US had blacklisted two of Russia’s largest oil companies and warned of sanctions for anyone trading with them.
The exemption was announced during a visit to Washington by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of former US President Donald Trump.
Zelensky said the recent strikes highlight the need to increase pressure on Russia to prevent further civilian suffering and protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
