Russia launched a wave of overnight strikes on Ukraine’s power grid across multiple regions, in what Kyiv described as an intensified campaign to degrade energy infrastructure ahead of winter. At the same time, Moscow voiced “extreme concern” over U.S. deliberations to arm Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
In Kyiv’s region, two workers at the country’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, were wounded when a substation was hit, according to Governor Mykola Kalashnyk. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry reported simultaneous attacks on infrastructure in Donetsk, Odesa and Chernihiv regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is escalating “aerial terror” on energy facilities, noting that over the past week Moscow launched “more than 3,100 drones, 92 missiles, and around 1,360 glide bombs.” He called on international partners to impose secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil, saying the funds flow into “those who finance this war.” He added that in his recent call with U.S. President Donald Trump, they addressed strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, resilience and long-range strike capacity.
In a Fox News interview after that call, Zelenskyy was asked whether Trump had approved the delivery of Tomahawk missiles. “We work on it … Of course we count on such decisions, but we will see,” he replied. Zelenskyy also confirmed that Kyiv is negotiating for a range of long-range precision weapons, including Tomahawks and ATACMS ballistic missiles.
On Washington’s side, Trump stated he had “sort of made a decision” on supplying Tomahawks but gave no further detail. A senior Ukrainian delegation is scheduled to visit the U.S. this week to further those discussions.
The Kremlin, via spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, broke its silence by declaring that the “topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern,” adding that escalatory tensions are building from all sides. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, expressed skepticism: he suggested Donald Trump sometimes uses forceful rhetoric, then steps back, and cautioned against reading the missile discussions as imminent delivery.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted or jammed 103 of 118 Russian drones overnight. Russia’s defense ministry claimed it shot down 32 Ukrainian drones over its territory. Meanwhile, across the country, recent Russian drone and missile strikes injured at least 20 people in Kyiv, damaged residential buildings and caused blackouts, which Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko called “one of the largest concentrated strikes” on Ukraine’s energy system to date.
This assault fits into a recurring tactic of Russia over the course of the war: each winter, Moscow increases its attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector, aiming to sap morale and strain civilian life during the harsh months ahead.
Africa Digital News, New York
