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Russia launched 450 drones and 45 missiles to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as Zelensky reiterated his call for sanctions
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Ukraine will face nationwide power cuts of eight to 16 hours today after Russian strikes left parts of the country’s energy system in ruins, officials said.
State-owned energy company Tsentrenergo said the attacks were one of the largest on its facilities since the start of the war in February 2022, and that it had halted operations at its plants in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.
Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles targeting energy infrastructure between Friday and Saturday, killing at least seven people.
An overnight drone attack by Ukraine temporarily disrupted power and heating supplies in the southwestern Russia city of Voronezh, governor Alexander Gusev said on the Telegram messaging app.
Meanwhile, work is under way to prepare proposals for a Russian nuclear test, Moscow has said, in what would be its first test of a nuclear weapon in 35 years.
The order was made in response to Donald Trump’s surprise announcement last week that the US would resume testing.
Lucy Leeson reports:
This is the moment an 11-year-old girl bravely confronts Vladimir Putin about her uncle injured in the war with Ukraine.
The child approached Putin at Russia’s Unity Day service on Tuesday (4 November), telling him how her uncle suffered an injury to the arm that went untreated in hospital before being sent back to fight.
She said “My uncle is currently at the front, he was wounded in the arm. He was in the hospital, they weren’t treating him, and now they’re sending him on a mission, and I would like him to be transferred to a good hospital in Russia.”
Putin replies: “We’ll find him, ok?”
An overnight drone attack by Ukraine temporarily disrupted power and heating supplies in the southwestern Russia city of Voronezh, a regional governor has said.
The attack on Voronezh, the administrative centre of the wider Voronezh region, caused no injuries, governor Alexander Gusev said on the Telegram messaging app.
Several drones were suppressed by electronic warfare systems, sparking a fire at a utility facility that was quickly extinguished, he added.
Safety measures led to brief changes in central heating temperatures in some homes and to short power cuts in parts of the city, but supplies later returned to normal, Mr Gusev said.
The battle for Pokrovsk in Ukraine‘s Donetsk region has reached a pivotal stage, with Russian and Ukrainian forces locked in intense combat, even vying for control of individual residential buildings, according to soldiers and analysts.
This fierce fighting on the ground also underpins a crucial diplomatic struggle, as both Moscow and Kyiv seek to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump of their military advantage and the opposing side’s weakness.
Russia asserts its forces have encircled Pokrovsk and successfully thwarted Ukrainian attempts to re-establish supply lines. However, Ukraine refutes claims of a blockade, stating that fighting continues and its forces are inflicting significant casualties on the Russians.
State-owned energy company Tsentrenergo said the attacks were the largest on its facilities since the start of the war in February 2022, and that it had halted operations at its plants in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.
“The last strike was not even a month ago and the enemy has now struck all our generating capacity at the same time. The stations are on fire!” Tsentrenergo, which generates about 8 per cent of Ukraine’s power, said in a statement.
“Our generation is now zero.”
Ukraine’s General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces has reported that Russia has lost around 1,150,100 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, in new figures released on Saturday.
According to the report, Russia has lost 11,330 tanks, 23,544 armoured fighting vehicles and fuel tanks and 34,321 artillery systems during the conflict.
The figures include the loss of 1,538 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,239 air defense systems, 428 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 78,928 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said emergency crews had stabilised the power grid, but warned consumers that further power cuts were needed to allow work to proceed after the attacks.
“We are assessing the aftermath and coordinating what actions to take in order to find alternative power sources to ensure people get their power and heating back,” Ms Hrynchuk said on national television.
News reports and unofficial social media accounts said blackouts persisted in at least two regions – Kharkiv in the northeast and Poltava in central Ukraine.
The case carries symbolic importance for the country, with suspects accused of executing Ukrainian soldiers usually out of its jurisdiction.
Criminal investigations are underway into the alleged murder of 322 Ukrainian servicemen who had unconditionally laid down their arms and/or surrendered since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said in February that there had been an “alarming rise” in reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia.
It is illegal under international humanitarian law to execute prisoners of war and the wounded, and such actions are regarded as war crimes.
Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in overnight attacks on Ukraine, targeting substations that supply two nuclear power plants and killing seven people, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.
“Russia once again targeted substations that power the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.
“These were not accidental but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately endangering nuclear safety in Europe.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 450 drones and 45 missiles.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the start of mass production of a domestically made drone modelled after the Chinese DJI Mavic, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign drones used widely on the battlefield.
Ukraine’s new “Shmavic” drone is being produced by local firms and incorporates locally made components designed to resist Russian electronic warfare.
The move comes after China restricted DJI drone shipments to Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to accelerate domestic alternatives.
Ukrainian drones have reportedly struck a significant oil refinery in Russia’s Volgograd region for the second time in less than three months, according to Kyiv’s general staff.
The attack, which Ukraine claims occurred on Wednesday, targeted the largest producer of fuel and lubricants in Russia’s Southern Federal District.
Ukrainian officials estimate the refinery processes over 15 million tonnes of crude annually, accounting for approximately 5.6 per cent of the country’s total refining capacity.
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