Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine as power outages spread across Kyiv

Heavy overnight Russian strikes killed at least six people in Ukraine and knocked out power across large sections of the capital, Kyiv. Vladimir Putin continues to ignore Donald Trump's proposed 'energy ceasefire'. The attacks hit multiple regions immediately after President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Western allies provided no advance warning before a missile struck a Kyiv power plant.

Ukraine relies heavily on Western intelligence to spot incoming Russian attacks and identify targets for its own defenses. Renewed signs of strain with US President Trump now cast doubt on those vital arrangements. In Kyiv, a Russian strike on a multi-storey building in Desnianskyi district killed two people. Another attack in Golosiivsky took one life. Two people died and six were wounded when Russia targeted the Dnipropetrovsk region. A further person was killed in southeastern Zaporizhzhia.

AFP reporters in Kyiv heard a series of explosions throughout the night. They reported that electricity and water supplies were cut off in eastern parts of the city. 'Energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region have come under a massive ballistic missile strike. There are power disruptions in the capital,' Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram, urging people to stay inside shelters.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy provider, said on the same platform that the attack caused emergency power cuts in the Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Pecherskyi and Solomianskyi districts. It also cut power in part of the Golosiivsky district. Further Russian ballistic missile attacks were reported in Kharkiv and Zhytomyr regions. Other strikes hit Sumy and Chernigiv.

The governor of Russia's Saratov region cited preliminary estimates saying a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in the city of Balakovo. Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defence forces had downed nearly 500 drones flying towards the Russian capital overnight. Russian authorities said around 160 more were brought down over the Rostov region while others targeted Moscow.

Earlier, Zelensky stated a Russian strike on a Kyiv power facility on Tuesday evening came without Ukraine receiving advance warning from its Western allies. 'A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, no early warning from our partners,' he wrote on Facebook. The main target was energy infrastructure, specifically the CHP-4 plant.

It was unfortunate. The strike hit. An injured man spoke into his phone near a residential building damaged by a Russian ballistic missile while firefighters battled the blaze in Kyiv's Desnianskyi district on October 14. Victoria Deineko held her daughter, Mia, standing before a multi-story apartment complex scorched by the attack on Tuesday, October 13. Flames licked at the structure as smoke billowed into the sky.

President Zelensky stated that Ukraine's defense systems detected the incoming missiles only moments before impact. 'This is absolutely unjust: when they are destroying our infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches,' he added. Kyiv, home to roughly three million people, faces escalating assaults from Russian drones and missiles, with energy grids becoming a primary target for destruction. Residents heard explosions from strikes before air raid sirens finally sounded overnight from Monday to Tuesday. This sequence of events has occurred only rarely in the past. Ukrainian officials blamed the Russian military's use of hard-to-detect missiles or potential technical glitches for the lack of warning time.

Trump announced an 'energy ceasefire' on his Truth Social network Sunday, claiming Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop punishing long-range strikes on power infrastructure. Zelensky voiced surprise at the news. He later said further strikes on energy targets were Russian President Putin's direct answer to Trump's claim. The American leader has repeatedly attacked Zelensky for hits on Russian oil refineries and suggested Saturday that it was 'time for Ukraine to get a new president'. This rhetoric follows criticism from Zelensky and political backlash at home regarding plans announced last week to buy diesel from Russia despite wartime sanctions. In a statement on X, the Ukrainian leader accused Putin of disrespecting the Trump administration by flagrantly ignoring the 'energy ceasefire'.

'Overnight, the Russians used 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions against our energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, and Kharkiv,' he wrote. A targeted Russian ballistic missile strike specifically hit energy infrastructure – the very assets covered by the ceasefire announced by the American President. The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale. Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States. Russia does not consider the American President's statements strong.

At least 600,000 people were left without power. Outages could become even more widespread if the attack continues. At least 26 power facilities and four in the oil and gas sector had been significantly damaged. Infrastructure belonging to Ukraine's state railway was also targeted. 'The American President has all the effective and necessary tools to bring peace closer through strength, justice, and pressure on the aggressor,' Zelensky continued. We ask for additional packages of Patriot missile interceptors for Ukraine. It is entirely fair for us to tell the United States, Europe, and all our partners that no country in the world should be left alone to face such a deranged and pro-war actor as Russia. This is a breaking news story. More details will follow.