Russia launches major attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, causing power cuts

Russia has launched its heaviest combined missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy grid in months, killing seven people — including a child — and forcing emergency power cuts in Kyiv and three surrounding regions. The overnight strikes, reported on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, hit a key power plant and other energy facilities around the Ukrainian capital, leaving the city shrouded in thick smoke. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the onslaught included nearly 190 drones and ballistic missiles, while Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting five missiles and 155 drones.

Key facts

Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s energy grid: the heaviest in months

Russia unleashed a widely anticipated air campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid on Wednesday, hitting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions in what officials described as the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months, the Associated Press reported. The strikes followed days of intensifying drone barrages on the capital — a prelude, many Ukrainians fear, to a winter of attacks intended to plunge cities into cold and darkness while Ukraine is short of air defenses.

Kyiv residents woke on Wednesday to a city shrouded in thick fog from the smoke of the attacks, which authorities said damaged a key power plant and other energy facilities around the capital. Some of the capital’s tram and trolleybus services ground to a halt due to the outages as people headed home from work, and Kyiv’s water utility said pressure in the water system was reduced.

The attack in numbers

Seven killed as strikes hit homes and infrastructure

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting the eastern front on Wednesday, said seven people, including a child, were killed in the attacks, and 24 others were wounded nationwide. A boy was killed in an attack on a private home in Vyshhorod, a city in the wider Kyiv region, where three other people were pulled from the rubble, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.

“There has been virtually no day since summer when the enemy did not attack energy infrastructure,” Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said. “But such a massive and combined attack happened for the first time since the end of the last heating season.”

Emergency power cuts return to Kyiv

Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state power grid operator, said it had imposed emergency power cuts as a result of the attack in Kyiv and three surrounding regions — the first time such a measure had been imposed in the capital since spring. Repair crews were dispatched to damaged facilities, and authorities urged residents to conserve electricity and prepare for further outages.

Russian attacks last winter, which brought record-low temperatures, ravaged power and heating systems and forced Ukrainians to adapt to dire circumstances. Officials warn this winter could be worse, with the country’s air defenses stretched thin against an increasing share of fast, jet-powered drones.

‘Weaponizing winter’: the strategy behind the strikes

Ukrainian officials describe the bombardment as a deliberate attempt to “weaponize winter.” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the increase in Russian strikes has brought “days of almost uninterrupted air raid alerts across Ukraine,” adding: “Russia is intensifying its terror: jet-powered drones during the day, ballistic and cruise missiles at night, constant attacks against our cities and civilian life.”

Moscow has steeply escalated its aerial campaign since the end of August, exploiting gaps in Ukraine’s air defenses. Ukrainian officials say Russia is not engaging with U.S. efforts to halt the fighting, four and a half years after it invaded its neighbor; Moscow says it wants a comprehensive settlement rather than a temporary truce, but its demand that Ukraine surrender land is unacceptable to Kyiv. Follow the latest developments in the wider war in Ukraine.

Conclusion

Russia’s latest assault on Ukraine’s energy grid marks a significant escalation of its cold-season strategy, killing seven people and plunging the capital region into emergency power cuts for the first time since spring. With damage still being assessed and repair crews racing against the clock, Ukraine faces a winter in which Moscow appears determined to deny millions of civilians heat, light and water.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure?

Ukrainian officials and analysts say Moscow is trying to “weaponize winter” — denying Ukrainians heat, power and running water to weaken civilian resolve and pressure the government, while also degrading the country’s military and logistical capacity.

How many people were killed in the attack?

Seven people, including a child, were killed and 24 wounded, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A boy died in a strike on a private home in Vyshhorod, in the Kyiv region.

How did Ukraine’s air defenses perform?

The air force said it downed five missiles and 155 drones in the initial attack wave. In a later full-day tally, defenses intercepted 254 of 285 Russian drones, though 174 of them were faster jet-propelled models that are harder to stop.

Is this the start of Russia’s winter campaign?

Ukrainian officials fear it may be. Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi called it the first massive combined strike on energy infrastructure since the end of the last heating season, after months of near-daily smaller attacks.