Russian Drone Strikes Kill Three Across Ukraine, Cut Power to 370,000

Russian drone strikes across Ukraine early on Friday killed at least three people, injured dozens more and knocked out electricity to around 370,000 residents in the northwestern region of Volyn, Ukrainian officials said.

In the eastern city of Kharkiv, attacks on three districts left two people dead and 12 wounded, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said, revising an earlier toll of three. In Volyn, which borders Poland, a drone hit a food-processing facility, killing one person and injuring eight, Governor Roman Romaniuk said. Volyn bore the worst of the Russian drone strikes Ukraine reported on Friday, with repair crews racing to restore the damaged energy grid.

FAKTA: Key facts

• Death toll: at least three killed, dozens injured across Ukraine
• Kharkiv: two dead and 12 wounded in attacks on three districts
• Volyn: one dead and eight injured; around 370,000 people lost power, with about 100,000 reconnected by Friday morning
• Sumy and Rivne: shopping centres struck; seven injured in Rivne
• Lutsk: the regional capital’s mayor warned outages could last at least 24 hours
• Officials cited: governors Oleh Syniehubov, Roman Romaniuk and Oleksandr Koval, and Lutsk mayor Andriy Razumovskyi

Shopping centres among the targets

At least two shopping centres were hit in the strikes. In Sumy, in northern Ukraine close to the front line, images released by emergency services showed blood on the floor and damage to a shopping centre’s entrance. In the neighbouring Rivne region, regional governor Oleksandr Koval said seven people were wounded when drones struck a major shopping centre and other sites, adding to a growing list of civilian facilities damaged in recent waves of attacks.

Energy grid under growing pressure

The blackout in Volyn raised serious concerns for residents of the regional capital, Lutsk, where Mayor Andriy Razumovskyi warned that electricity disruptions could last at least 24 hours. The outages affected homes and essential services while repair crews worked through the morning to reconnect households. By later on Friday morning, Governor Romaniuk said around 100,000 people had regained power.

In Volyn, the drone strike on the food-processing facility caused the region’s single fatality and left eight people wounded, according to Governor Romaniuk. The attack struck civilian and critical infrastructure across the oblast, which borders Poland, sending emergency services out to assess the damage as residents faced the first full day of cuts.

The attacks continue a pattern of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that has repeatedly left communities facing power cuts this year, with civilian infrastructure and public places increasingly in the line of fire. Follow this developing story on Watan News International.