Massive Russian Strike on Ukraine Kills at Least 9, Damages Energy Infrastructure

Russian air attacks have killed at least nine people in Ukraine and left hundreds of thousands without electricity, just days after US President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” in the war, which has lasted more than four years.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had launched a “massive” strike against communications and energy infrastructure across Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.

According to the ministry, Russian forces struck two facilities supplying electricity and heating in Kyiv, two others in the surrounding region, and an electricity substation.

The attacks also targeted a heating and power plant in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, as well as a thermal power facility that Moscow claimed supplied the Ukrainian military in the southeastern part of the Kharkiv region.

Russia also said its forces had struck a data centre in Kyiv allegedly used to collect intelligence on the Russian military.

Power Disruptions Across Ukraine

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters as the capital came under heavy attack.

“Energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region have come under a massive ballistic missile strike. There are power disruptions in the capital,” he wrote on Telegram.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported emergency power cuts in several districts of Kyiv following the strikes.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a Russian attack on a multistorey residential building in the capital’s Desnianskyi district killed two people, while another person died in a separate strike in the Holosiivskyi district.

The Ukrainian military reported that two people were killed and six others injured in Russian attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk region. Another person was killed in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

In the western city of Lutsk, in the Volyn region, a Russian attack killed three people and injured at least 12, regional governor Roman Romaniuk said on Telegram.

Additional Russian missile attacks were reported in the Kharkiv and Zhytomyr regions, while strikes also hit Sumy and Chernihiv.

Al Jazeera correspondent Audrey MacAlpine, reporting from Kyiv, said the attacks on the capital involved a record number of hypersonic missiles.

“Over half a million people in Ukraine are without power as a result of these strikes,” she said.

Zelenskyy Criticises Western Partners

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv received no advance warning from its Western partners about the incoming Russian ballistic missile attack, raising concerns over intelligence sharing.

“A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, no early warning from our partners,” Zelenskyy wrote on Facebook.

“This is absolutely unjust: when they are destroying our infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches,” he added.

The president said Ukrainian authorities detected the missiles only when they were approaching the capital.

Zelenskyy also accused Moscow of violating the energy ceasefire announced by Trump on Sunday, arguing that the Russian assault had specifically targeted facilities covered by the agreement.

“A targeted Russian ballistic missile strike specifically against energy infrastructure – the very infrastructure covered by the ceasefire announced by the American President,” he wrote on X.

He described the scale of the assault as deliberate and provocative, saying Russia had demonstrated unprecedented disregard for the United States.

Starlink Restrictions Disrupt Military Operations

Separately, a technology adviser to the Ukrainian president said restrictions appeared to have been imposed overnight on some Starlink satellite internet terminals, disrupting certain military operations.

Sergiy Beskrestnov said SpaceX, the company owned by Elon Musk that operates Starlink, had introduced a speed limit for terminals in motion, preventing the military-grade version from operating at speeds exceeding 160 kilometres per hour.

“Tonight SpaceX introduced a speed limit for the Starlink terminals in motion,” Beskrestnov said.

He added that Ukraine’s defence forces had not been informed of the restriction in advance, resulting in the disruption of several missions.

“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is linked to the current political situation,” he said.

Russia Reports Ukrainian Drone Attacks

Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported a series of Ukrainian drone attacks overnight.

Roman Busargin, governor of Russia’s Saratov region, said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in the city of Balakovo. He added that all infrastructure facilities in the region continued to operate normally.

Balakovo hosts several strategic facilities, including a data centre operated by Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, a nuclear power plant and a hydropower station on the Volga River.

Sberbank later confirmed that its data centre in the Saratov region had been targeted by drones but said all systems remained operational.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russian air defence systems had intercepted nearly 500 drones heading towards the capital overnight.

Russian authorities also reported that approximately 160 additional drones had been intercepted over the Rostov region.

Russia’s military subsequently said its air defences had shot down a total of 902 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 180 near Moscow.