Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia launched another large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy system on Saturday, triggering explosions in Kyiv and leaving 1.2 million properties without power across the country. Officials said the strikes also disrupted heating as temperatures fell to around minus 10 degrees Celsius.
Power and heating outages across Ukraine
Nearly 6,000 buildings in Kyiv were left without heating on Saturday morning, with many apartments already cold following earlier disruptions to the city’s centralised heat distribution system. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said more than 800,000 people in the capital and another 400,000 in the northern Chernihiv region were without power after the latest attacks.
Casualties reported in Kyiv and Kharkiv
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed in the capital and four were injured, including three receiving hospital treatment. In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, 19 people including a child were wounded, officials said.
Scale of the overnight attack
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 375 drones and 21 missiles, including two Tsirkon ballistic missiles. The sky over Kyiv was lit by repeated flashes as air defences fired, with loud explosions echoing through the city. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said strikes were recorded in at least four districts, with a medical facility among the damaged buildings.
Broader campaign and diplomatic context
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid since its full-scale invasion in 2022 and is conducting its heaviest bombardment campaign against energy facilities this winter, leaving parts of the country with only a few hours of electricity a day and some areas without heat or water. The strikes came as trilateral, U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine continued into a second day in the UAE, with no sign of compromise on Friday.
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