Russia launched a massive aerial assault on Ukrainian energy facilities on Friday, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as one of the most severe attacks yet on the country’s already struggling power grid. He emphasized that the aerial assault underscored Ukraine’s urgent need for increased Western support before any negotiations with Russia.
This 12th major attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this year caused significant damage across multiple regions, forcing authorities to extend power cuts for millions, according to the national grid operator. With winter temperatures dipping to -6°C, the strikes intensify Ukraine’s challenges as global attention shifts, particularly with Donald Trump set to assume the U.S. presidency next month, having promised a swift resolution to the war.
“Putin’s plan for ‘peace’ is to destroy everything. This is how he envisions ‘negotiations’ – by terrorizing millions,” Zelenskyy said on X, calling for a strong international response.
Russia launched 93 missiles, including one reportedly from North Korea, and nearly 200 drones in the aerial assault. Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept 81 missiles, with F-16 fighter jets shooting down 11, Zelenskyy added. However, the full extent of the damage remains unclear as officials provide limited details about the network’s condition following repeated strikes.
Officials in the Lviv region, bordering Poland, reported damage to six unspecified energy facilities. A source in the energy sector told Reuters that power substations and gas infrastructure were targeted, with thermal power plants sustaining serious damage, according to Ukraine’s largest private energy provider, DTEK.
Additional power cuts were imposed, with outages lasting up to 11 hours in the Kyiv region, up from eight hours previously. Around half of power company Yasno’s 3.5 million customers were without electricity on Friday, the company’s CEO confirmed.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged for the urgent delivery of 20 NASAMS, HAWK, or IRIS-T air defense systems to counter such attacks. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that five of Ukraine’s nine nuclear reactors had reduced output due to infrastructure damage.
DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko called the assault a cynical attempt to break Ukrainian morale on the coldest day of winter so far.
Moscow described the attack as retaliation for Ukraine’s recent use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to target a Russian airfield. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its strikes, using long-range precision weapons and drones, targeted “critical facilities of Ukraine’s fuel and energy infrastructure that support its military-industrial complex.” Despite Russia’s denial of targeting civilian infrastructure, it has repeatedly justified energy system strikes as military objectives.
Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine requires greater Western military support to strengthen its position ahead of any potential peace talks. “Words alone won’t stop Putin – we need force to achieve peace,” he stressed.
