{"id":168254,"date":"2025-10-16T09:52:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T09:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-ukrainian-cities-plunged-into-darkness-as-russian-missile-barrage-targets-energy-grid-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T09:52:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T09:52:46","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-ukrainian-cities-plunged-into-darkness-as-russian-missile-barrage-targets-energy-grid-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-ukrainian-cities-plunged-into-darkness-as-russian-missile-barrage-targets-energy-grid-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukrainian cities plunged into darkness as Russian missile barrage targets energy grid – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Trump says he is \u2018optimistic\u2019 about ending Putin<\/a>\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/a>
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US<\/a> defence secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a> has warned Vladimir Putin that the US and its allies will “impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression” if it does not come to the table to end the war in Ukraine<\/a>.
Speaking at a meeting of Nato<\/a> defence ministers held in Brussels<\/a>, he said: \u201cIf we must take this step, the US War Department stands ready to do our part in ways that only the United States can do.
“Now is the time to end this tragic war, stop the needless bloodshed, and come to the peace table,” Mr Hegseth said.
Donald Trump<\/a> is said to be \u201coptimistic\u201d about ending Putin\u2019s war in Ukraine after his successful ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, according to the White House<\/a>.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that Indian prime minister Narendra Modi<\/a> has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, and the US president said he would try to get China to do the same.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) chief said on Thursday that Moscow has no doubt about Nato\u2019s security services’ involvement in incidents with alleged Russian drones over EU territory, RIA cited him as saying.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed the creation of a defensive “drone wall” after about 20 Russian drones allegedly entered the airspace of EU and Nato member Poland last month.
The Kremlin<\/a> on Wednesday dismissed Donald Trump<\/a>‘s warning of Russian economic collapse, asserting its “considerable reserves” and strength to achieve President Vladimir Putin<\/a>‘s goals.
Mr Trump had stated that Putin should settle the Ukraine war, which he claimed was making Russia “look bad”, also mentioning “long lines waiting for gasoline” and predicting the Russian “economy is going to collapse”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov<\/a>, while not directly commenting on Mr Trump’s remarks, said Putin was open to ending the war and Moscow<\/a> was grateful for Mr Trump’s efforts.
“As for the Russian economy, it has a sufficient and considerable margin of safety to allow the country’s leadership and all of us to implement the plans that we set for ourselves,” Mr Peskov told reporters.
He also clarified the BRICS grouping, called “an attack on the dollar” by Mr Trump, was never aimed at other countries or their currencies.
Ukrainian private energy company DTEK said that a Russian overnight attack on energy infrastructure halted operations at its gas production facilities in Poltava region.
“Overnight, the enemy once again attacked DTEK Naftogaz’s energy infrastructure with drones and missiles,” the company wrote in a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday.
Pictures have emerged to show the immediate aftermath of Russia\u2019s large-scale missile barrage across Ukraine on Thursday morning.
An apartment building in the Ukrainian town of Nizhyn, Chernihiv was in flames after a Russian drone strike.
Authorities have not yet released information on casualties or damage, and attacks remain ongoing.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko<\/a>, a loyal ally<\/a> of Russia<\/a>\u2019s Vladimir Putin<\/a>, has warned President Donald Trump<\/a> that the U.S. handing subsonic Tomahawk cruise missiles<\/a> to Ukraine<\/a> would mean \u201cnuclear war.\u201d
Trump is reportedly considering a request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> for the Tomahawks, which have a 1,500-mile range that would enable Kyiv to strike much deeper into Russian territory<\/a>, hitting strategic targets such as the invader\u2019s enemy infrastructure, military bases, and munitions factories.
Zelensky has argued that ramping up the arms available to his country would increase the pressure on the Kremlin to agree to a peace deal.
Police in St Petersburg have arrested 18-year-old street musician Diana Loginova after a video of her leading a crowd in singing an anti-Putin rock song went viral, local media reported Wednesday.
Loginova, who performs under the name Naoko with the band Stoptime, could face two administrative charges: \u201cdiscrediting\u201d the Russian military and organising an unauthorised public gathering. She may also face up to 15 days in detention.
The video shows Loginova in central St Petersburg leading the crowd in the lyrics of exiled rapper Noize MC\u2019s \u201cSwan Lake Cooperative\u201d, a song referencing the Ozero dacha cooperative, formed by Putin\u2019s friends in the mid-1990s.
The lyrics draw on imagery from the Swan Lake ballet, which became a symbol of the Soviet Union\u2019s collapse in 1991.
In the viral clip, the crowd sings: \u201cI want to watch the ballet, let the swans dance. Let the old man shake in fear for his lake.\u201d
In May 2025, a court banned \u201cSwan Lake Cooperative\u201d as \u201cextremist\u201d, ruling that the song constituted \u201cpropaganda for a violent government overthrow\u201d and a threat to the \u201cmoral and ethical development\u201d of minors.
As Russia<\/a> continues to bombard Ukraine<\/a> with drone attacks, president Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> has made repeated <\/a>and increasingly urgent calls for Kyiv<\/a> to have access to more powerful and expansive weapons.
The US-made Tomahawk<\/a> could be the answer to his problems. A long-range missile with huge potential for precision strikes deep in enemy territory, access to the weapon would provide Ukraine with a new kind of military might – and it may not be as far away as it once was.
Donald Trump<\/a> has threatened to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine in a renewed push to get Vladimir Putin<\/a> to end the war. With Zelensky set to visit Washington<\/a> on Friday, the leaders have said the provision of the weapons will be a major topic to be discussed.
If Trump follows through on his threats, Ukraine could significantly expand its strike capabilities, enabling it to hit targets deep inside Russian territory, including military bases, logistics hubs, airfields and command centres that are currently beyond reach.
US president Donald Trump is preparing to launch a \u201cUkraine Victory Fund\u201d that would be financed through new tariffs on Chinese imports.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has been instructed to present the proposal to European counterparts ahead of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s visit to Washington on Friday, where the two leaders are expected to discuss military support and Ukraine\u2019s long-term defence funding.
\u201cPresident Trump has instructed the ambassador and myself to tell our European allies that we would be in favour of whether you would call it a \u2018Russian oil tariff\u2019 on China or a \u2018Ukrainian victory tariff\u2019 on China,\u201d Bessent told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
\u201cBut our Ukrainian or European allies have to be willing to follow. We will respond if our European partners will join us.\u201d
The proposed \u201cUkraine Victory Fund\u201d would effectively link China trade tariffs to the war effort in Europe, adding a new layer of economic pressure to Trump\u2019s foreign policy.
Ukrainians were woken before dawn by another massive missile attack and air raid sirens as Russia was reported to have launched long range missiles from Mig-31 fighter-bombers capable of carrying the hypersonic Khinzal rocket.
Kharkiv and Izium, Kropyvnytskyi (Kirovohrad Oblast), and Poltava, all reported the sounds of explosions.
A team from the Ukrainian presidency is in Washington DC in talks with US officials and defence manufacturers seeking supplies of badly depleted air defence systems.
The latest wave of attacks are part of an increased Russian effort to cripple Ukraine\u2019s energy supply systems as winter approaches and heating becomes a necessity countrywide.
Further exploiting fog and rain, Russian forces have used the cover of bad weather to launch conventional ground attacks on Ukraine\u2019s eastern front around Pokrovsk.
Rain, high winds and bad visibility inhibit the operations of Ukraine\u2019s attack drones which have driven Russian armour from the battlefield over the summer.
Ukraine claimed to have seen off the latest Russian assault, but the limitations of drone warfare in winter weather is likely to be further exploited by Russia, which has also fast developed its own systems of unmanned killing machines extending front lines into strips of blasted territory manned by tiny pockets of soldiers hiding from the cheaply produced drones.
Ukraine\u2019s Air Force has issued a nationwide missile alert after Russia launched a large-scale attack in the early hours of Monday, targeting multiple regions across the country.
Air raid sirens sounded nationwide as Ukraine warned that Russian MiG-31 bombers carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles had taken off.
A second MiG-31 took off from the Savasleyka airfield in Russia\u2019s Nizhny Novgorod region, according to Ukrainian officials, Kyiv Independent reported.
The Kinzhal missiles the aircraft carry can strike deep inside Ukrainian territory at supersonic speeds, making them difficult to intercept.
Explosions have been reported in Kharkiv, Izium, Kropyvnytskyi, and Poltava, according to the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. A second wave of blasts was later confirmed in Chernihiv, with additional detonations heard again in Kharkiv.
Authorities have not yet released information on casualties or damage, and attacks remain ongoing.
Ukraine\u2019s Air Force said the assault involved ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as swarms of Shahed-style drones launched from multiple directions.
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