Major Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 3 people and cuts power

Russia launched a devastating wave of attacks across Ukraine on Tuesday, firing more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles in a massive overnight assault that stretched into daylight hours. The barrage killed at least three people, including a 4-year-old child, and caused widespread power outages as temperatures plunged just days before Christmas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the strikes damaged homes and critical energy infrastructure across 13 regions, leaving many Ukrainians without power amid bitter winter conditions. The attack came just a day after Zelenskyy had described recent progress on peace negotiations as “quite solid.”

“This is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram, characterizing the assault as a deliberate pre-Christmas attack targeting civilians. “A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”

The timing of the attack has raised questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s commitment to U.S.-led peace efforts, with Ukrainian and European officials suggesting the Kremlin is not genuinely interested in diplomatic solutions. The peace process has struggled to gain momentum as both sides maintain fundamentally different demands about how the nearly three-year conflict should end.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Ukrainian and European representatives in Florida on Sunday, which he described as “productive and constructive.” President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a peace agreement for months, offered a more measured assessment on Monday, saying only that “the talks are going along.”

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia deployed 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles in the coordinated attack. Ukrainian air defenses reportedly intercepted 587 drones and 34 missiles, but the strikes still managed to cause significant damage and casualties across the country.

Emergency services reported that a child was killed in the northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone strike claimed a woman’s life in the Kyiv region. A third civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.

Acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso confirmed this was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this year. The assault left multiple western regions without electricity, forcing emergency power outages across the country. Nekraso stated that restoration work would begin as soon as security conditions allowed.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, reported that the attack specifically targeted thermal power stations, marking the seventh major strike on their facilities since October. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, DTEK’s thermal power plants have been struck more than 220 times, resulting in four worker deaths and 59 injuries.

The western regions of Rivne, Ternopil, and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, all reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages following the attack. In the southern Odesa region, Russian strikes damaged energy facilities, port infrastructure, transport systems, industrial sites, and residential areas, according to regional head Oleh Kiper. A merchant ship and more than 120 homes were damaged in the assault.

This latest escalation demonstrates Russia’s continued willingness to target civilian infrastructure as winter sets in, a strategy that has become increasingly common as the war approaches its third year. The attacks on Ukraine’s power grid appear designed to maximize civilian hardship during the coldest months, raising humanitarian concerns as millions face potential energy shortages during freezing temperatures.

The assault also highlights the significant challenges facing peace efforts, as military actions on the ground continue to undermine diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the conflict.