Ukrainian drone strikes damaged energy networks in Russia-occupied parts of southern Ukraine on Sunday, according to Kremlin-installed authorities, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power.
More than 200,000 households in the Russia-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday, the Kremlin-installed local governor said. In a Telegram post, Yevgeny Balitsky said nearly 400 settlements had their supply cut because of damage to power networks from the drone strikes.
The electricity disruptions were reported alongside continued Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. Ukrainian officials said overnight attacks by Moscow killed at least two people, and the fighting included strikes targeting energy infrastructure in Odesa region, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. The emergency service said a fire broke out but was promptly extinguished.
The Emergency Service also said at least six people were wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region from Russian attacks. In his own remarks posted on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said repairing the country’s energy system remains challenging, “but we are doing everything we can to restore everything as quickly as possible.” He also said two people were killed in overnight attacks across the country that struck Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa.
Zelenskyy said Russia used more than 1,300 attack drones, 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types to strike Ukraine this week. He added that if Russia “deliberately delays the diplomatic process,” the world’s response should be decisive: more help for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor.
Zelenskyy said the day after a Ukrainian delegation arrived in the United States for talks on a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the war. He said Friday that the delegation would try to finalize with U.S. officials documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery.
Zelenskyy said that if American officials approve the proposals, the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said Russia would still need to be consulted on the proposals. The article reported that Trump plans to be in Davos, according to organizers, and noted that Zelenskyy spoke at a Kyiv news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel.
Beyond Ukraine, the regional governor in Russia’s North Ossetia said that two children and an adult were wounded overnight when debris from a Ukrainian drone fell on a five-story residential building in Beslan. Gov. Sergei Menyaylo said in a Telegram post that 70 people were evacuated from the building and that there was damage to its roof and windows.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down or suppressed 63 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. Local authorities said one person was hospitalized in Russia’s Krasnodar region east of Crimea following a drone strike.
In another development tied to the war’s impact on energy systems, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Ukrainian crews started repair works on the backup power line connecting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to the grid. The IAEA said in an X post that the repair works on the essential back up Ferosplavna-1 330 kV power line began under another IAEA-brokered ceasefire, and said the line is crucial to supplying the plant with electricity.