Russia widens Ukraine strikes, hits power grid as winter fears deepen — SkimNews
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- Russia fired a combined missile-and-drone barrage at Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight, killing seven people including a child and wounding 24, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said the attack was the first massive combined strike since the end of the last heating season, adding there has been "virtually no day since summer" without attacks on energy infrastructure.
- Russia launched 3,177 jet-powered drones by Tuesday this month—already exceeding the 2,850 fired in all of August—exploiting gaps in Ukraine's air defenses with ballistic missiles and harder-to-intercept drone types, per air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main targets were energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region; Russia's Defence Ministry claimed it struck a hydroelectric plant, a thermal power plant, an electrical substation, an energy storage facility, and a data center.
- Ukraine's air force said it needs more US-made Patriot missiles to counter ballistic missiles and more ammunition for ground-based air defenses, with Zelenskyy thanking partners for recent deliveries and calling for more ahead of winter.
- Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described "jet-powered drones during the day, ballistic and cruise missiles at night" and accused Moscow of refusing to engage with US efforts to stop the fighting four years after the invasion began.
Why it matters: Kyiv framed this as the first massive combined strike since the last heating season ended, marking a tactical shift from grinding single-vector drone harassment to multi-axis attacks designed to cripple the grid before cold weather. The tempo is accelerating—3,177 drones in roughly half a month already tops August's 2,850—while Ukraine publicly identifies Patriot interceptors and ground-based air defense ammunition as its binding constraint.
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