Overnight, Russia used 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions against Ukraine’s energy and critical infrastructure. As a result of the attack, at least 600,000 people were left without electricity, while damage was reported at dozens of energy and oil and gas facilities.
This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to him, the main targets of the strikes were energy and critical infrastructure facilities in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv.
“A deliberate Russian ballistic strike specifically targeted the energy sector, where the President of the United States had called for a ceasefire. The strike was absolutely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale — Russia has never shown such blatant disrespect for America before,” Zelensky said.
The president added that at least 600,000 people remain without electricity following the attack, and the scale of outages could increase.
26 elements of the power system damaged
According to Zelensky, facilities and equipment at 26 elements of Ukraine’s electric power system sustained significant damage.
Four oil and gas facilities were also damaged.
Repair crews, energy workers and units of the State Emergency Service are working to deal with the aftermath of the strikes. The president also reported deaths and injuries but did not specify their number in this address.
Zelensky calls on Trump to impose strong sanctions
Following the massive attack, Zelensky called on the United States and other partners to respond firmly to Russia’s actions.
“Russia has squandered the opportunity for de-escalation and has clearly chosen to continue its insane war of destruction,” he said.
The president urged Donald Trump to impose “strong sanctions” on Russia and use the tools provided by recently adopted US sanctions legislation.
“The President of the United States has all the strong and sufficient tools needed to bring peace closer through strength, justice and pressure on the aggressor,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine asks for additional Patriot missiles
Zelensky separately appealed to Ukraine’s partners to provide additional packages of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
He stressed that Ukraine should not be left alone to face large-scale Russian missile and drone attacks.
“Peace can only come through strength, and we ask America to remember this Reagan principle,” the president said.
Earlier, “Glavnoe in Ukraine” reported that Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles on the morning of October 14. In the Desnianskyi district, a missile struck a nine-story residential building, killing two people and injuring more than 20 others, while another death was reported in the Holosiivskyi district.
