Kyiv reels as massive missile and drone barrage targets energy grid

A coordinated overnight assault on Kyiv and multiple Ukrainian regions unleashed hundreds of long-range drones and scores of missiles that Ukrainian officials said were aimed largely at energy infrastructure, plunging parts of the capital into cold and darkness and inflicting civilian casualties.

Ukraine’s Air Force and other official accounts gave differing tallies but the scale was clear. One Air Force statement said Russia launched 339 long-range combat drones and 34 missiles. Another official breakdown described 18 ballistic missiles and 15 cruise missiles alongside 339 drones. Ukrainian air defences engaged waves of incoming weapons through the night and defensive units reported shooting down large numbers; one account said 27 missiles and 315 drones were intercepted. Officials and media also named a Zircon anti-ship missile among munitions used.

The immediate toll included at least one confirmed civilian death near Kyiv. Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said a 50-year-old man was killed northwest of the capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported one injured in Dniprovskyi district, while the Dnipro regional administration said two women, aged 67 and 76, were injured in that city. Some local tallies placed the wider 24-hour figure at at least four killed and 35 injured.

The principal damage was to power substations, distribution hubs and other components of the energy network. Kyiv city and regional officials said strikes damaged substations that serve nuclear power plants and other critical facilities. Energy company DTEK reported more than 335,000 residents in Kyiv were left without electricity. Mayor Klitschko said 5,635 residential buildings were cut off from heating and that roughly 80 percent of those affected had only recently had warmth restored after an earlier attack. Temperatures plunged to about -14°C, prompting Kyiv residents and journalists to report sheltering in metro stations and other protected locations.

Outages and damage extended beyond the capital. Odesa region officials said an energy infrastructure facility was hit and that a Russian drone struck a multi-storey residential complex in Chornomorsk. Rivne authorities reported damage to critical infrastructure that left about 10,000 households without power. In Poltava region an industrial facility fire followed an attack. Two fuel stations in the Kyiv region sustained damage, complicating emergency repairs.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the operation as evidence of "updated tactics" and said Kyiv would inform allies, including the United States, about those developments. He noted Ukraine had received a shipment of air-defence ammunition the day before the assault. Zelensky also signalled he might postpone plans to travel to Davos to focus on recovery, while leaving open the possibility of attending if parallel security and economic agreements were ready.

Analysts and Ukrainian officials warn the pattern has strategic and legal implications. Systematic targeting of energy in winter magnifies civilian suffering and strains repair capacity already taxed after a previous major strike roughly 10 days earlier. The volume and mix of drones and missiles underscore an evolving threat that Kyiv says will be a focus of its diplomatic appeals for more air-defence systems, munitions and coordinated international support to protect critical civilian infrastructure.