Russian barrage on Ukraine's grid kills at least 9, leaves 600,000 without power
Russia struck power plants across several regions despite the "energy ceasefire" announced by Trump. Zelenskyy said Ukraine again got no warning from its partners.
Symbolic image · Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones overnight into Wednesday, Oct. 14, targeting mainly the energy system. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow launched 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 strike drones. Al Jazeera reported at least nine people killed nationwide, in Kyiv, in Lutsk, where three died, and in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. In Kyiv, a missile hit a nine-story apartment building in the Desnianskyi district, injuring 24 people, including a 7-year-old girl, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Zelenskyy said at least 600,000 people lost power and that at least 26 energy facilities and four oil and gas sites suffered "significant" damage. Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said all three of Kyiv's combined heat and power plants were attacked. Zelenskyy accused Russia of violating the "energy ceasefire" that U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday. Russia's Defense Ministry said it struck energy sites and a data center it claimed was used to gather intelligence on its military.
"Once again, no early warning from our partners," Zelenskyy wrote, saying the missiles were detected only as they approached Kyiv, raising questions about intelligence sharing. Russia said it downed 902 Ukrainian drones overnight, 180 of them near Moscow. The governor of the Saratov region reported one person killed in Balakovo, while Sberbank said its data center there was attacked but operating normally.