Russia has launched a fresh, heavy bombardment against Ukraine’s energy facilities, deploying hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, authorities confirmed on Thursday.
The assault comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, where he is set to request more American-made air defences and long-range missiles.
The latest barrage plunged eight Ukrainian regions into darkness, according to Ukrenergo, the national energy operator.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, reported power cuts in the capital, Kyiv, and was forced to halt natural gas extraction in the central Poltava region. State-owned Naftogaz noted this marked the sixth time this month that its natural gas infrastructure had sustained damage.
President Zelensky stated that Russia launched over 300 drones and 37 missiles overnight.
He accused Moscow of deploying cluster munitions and deliberately targeting the same sites repeatedly to strike emergency and repair crews.
“This fall, the Russians are using every single day to strike our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy posted on Telegram.
The nation’s power grid has remained a primary target for Russia since its full-scale invasion over three years ago.
These attacks typically intensify as winter approaches, a tactic Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponising winter.” Russia, however, maintains that its strikes are exclusively aimed at targets of military significance.
Ukraine seeks air defenses and attack missiles
Eight Ukrainian regions experienced blackouts after the barrage by Russia, Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo said (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Ukrainian forces have resisted Russia’s bigger and better-equipped army, limiting it to a grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and southern regions.
But Ukraine, which is almost the size of Texas, is hard to defend from the air in its entirety, and Kyiv officials are seeking more Western help to fend against aerial attacks and strike back at Russia.
Zelensky was expected to arrive in the United States on Thursday, ahead of his Oval Office meeting with Trump on Friday.
Ukraine is seeking cruise missiles, air defense systems and joint drone production agreements from the United States, Kyiv officials say. Zelensky also wants tougher international economic sanctions on Moscow.
The visit comes amid signs that Trump is leaning toward stepping up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock in US-led peace efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is prepared to ask President Donald Trump at a White House meeting for more American-made air defenses and long-range missiles (AFP via Getty Images)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday in Brussels that if Russia won’t budge from its objections and refuses to negotiate a peace deal, Washington “will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression.”
Also, Trump said Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil. That would deny Moscow income it needs to keep fighting in Ukraine.
Washington has hesitated over providing Ukraine with long-range missiles, such as Tomahawks, out of concern that such a step could escalate the war and deepen tensions between the United States and Russia.
But Trump has been frustrated by his inability to force an end to the war in Ukraine and has expressed impatience with Putin, whom he increasingly describes as the primary obstacle to a resolution.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment published late Wednesday that sending Tomahawks to Ukraine would not escalate the war and would only “mirror Russia’s own use of … long-range cruise missiles against Ukraine.”
Ukraine engages with American defense companies
Russia has continued to target Ukraine’s energy and transport infrastructure (Associated Press)
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Economy Ministry said Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with US company Bell Textron Inc. to cooperate in aviation technology.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based aerospace and defense company will open an office in Ukraine and establish a center for assembly and testing, while exchanging know-how and training Ukrainians in the United States, according to a ministry statement.
Ukraine, unsure what it can expect from Western allies, is keen to develop its own arms industry.
On Wednesday, a Ukrainian government delegation met during a US visit with prominent American weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.