Russian Missile and Drone Barrage Kills Four, Knocks Out Power Across Ukraine
Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukraine early Tuesday, killing at least four people and striking another power plant, further straining the country’s fragile energy system amid freezing winter temperatures.
An AFP journalist in the eastern Kharkiv region, where the fatalities were reported, saw firefighters battling flames at a postal facility while rescue workers assisted survivors by lamplight in subzero conditions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks left “several hundred thousand” households without electricity in areas around Kyiv and renewed his appeal to allies to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.
“The world can respond to this Russian terror with new assistance packages for Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on social media. “Russia must come to learn that cold will not help it win the war.”
Authorities in Kyiv and the surrounding region imposed emergency power cuts in the hours following the strikes, noting that freezing temperatures were hampering repair efforts.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said one of its power plants was hit in the attack—the eighth such strike since October. The company did not specify which facility was damaged but said its plants have been attacked more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Daily Attacks Intensify
Russia has stepped up near-daily missile and drone attacks in recent months, repeatedly targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and disrupting electricity and heating supplies during the harsh winter.
Ukraine’s air force said Tuesday’s assault included 25 missiles and 247 drones.
Kharkiv regional officials confirmed that six people were also wounded in an overnight strike outside the city of Kharkiv. Video released by the regional prosecutor’s office showed emergency responders in white helmets moving through the still-smoking wreckage of a Nova Poshta postal facility.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a Russian long-range drone also struck a children’s medical facility in the city, sparking a fire. No casualties were reported there.
Other regions were hit as well, including the southern port city of Odesa. Residential buildings, a hospital and a kindergarten were damaged, and at least five people were injured in two waves of attacks, according to regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
The strikes came days after Russia fired a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile at Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Kyiv’s allies. Washington described the move as a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation” of the war.
Moscow said on Monday that the missile struck an авиаtion repair facility in Ukraine’s western Lviv region and claimed it was launched in response to an alleged Ukrainian attempt to attack one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences—a claim denied by Kyiv and dismissed by Washington as not credible.
