Hundreds of Thousands Left Dark in Ukraine After Overnight Strikes

Hundreds of thousands of households in Ukraine lost electricity after Russian forces struck power infrastructure in four regions overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. The strikes occurred while a six-day local ceasefire remained in effect around the town of Oleshky, though fighting continued elsewhere along the front line.

Zelenskiy stated that the intensity of the attacks was very high and that Russia was seeking to exploit a deficit in ballistic missile interceptors. He confirmed that Ukrainian forces had hit the Kamensky plant in the Rostov region, a facility involved in the manufacture of Russian missiles. Moscow did not comment on the attack in Rostov.

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, Governor Gleb Nikitin reported major damage to an unidentified industrial facility following a large-scale overnight drone attack. The region is home to the NORSI oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest, but the regional government did not specify if that site was the target. Officials urged motorists to buy fuel only as needed and avoid panic buying, a move that suggests the damaged facility is linked to oil refining or fuel supply infrastructure.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that its forces downed 235 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions during the night. Conversely, Ukraine’s air force reported shooting down 371 of the 433 long-range drones launched by Russia since Saturday evening. By Sunday morning, dozens of Russian drones were still in the air, and six separate drone alerts had been issued in Kyiv since midnight.

The exchanges in air power come amid renewed debate over strikes on energy targets. On Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of ignoring a request from U.S. President Donald Trump to stop striking oil refineries. Trump has cited these attacks as a factor in raising diesel costs before the upcoming U.S. midterm elections. Ukraine maintains it supports a full ceasefire on energy targets, including its own power grid, but says Moscow is unwilling to agree.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees the energy sector, spoke on state television channel Vesti on Sunday. He did not mention the Nizhny Novgorod strike but said that Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries are adding to global fuel market imbalances and affecting prices.