In the early hours of October 10, 2025, Ukraine awoke to the familiar, harrowing sound of air-raid sirens and explosions as Russia unleashed one of its most intense barrages yet against the nation’s energy infrastructure. The attack, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as a deliberate attempt to plunge Ukraine into cold and darkness ahead of winter, saw more than 450 drones and 32 missiles rain down on cities across the country, leaving devastation in their wake.
According to Sky News, Ukraine’s air force reported that 465 strike and decoy drones, alongside 32 missiles, were launched by Russian forces overnight. In a display of both resilience and exhaustion, Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept or jam 405 drones and 15 missiles. Yet, the sheer volume of the assault overwhelmed the country’s defense systems, resulting in significant damage to civilian and energy infrastructure.
The scale of the destruction was immediately evident. Over a million households and businesses across Ukraine were temporarily without power, as reported by The Associated Press. In Kyiv alone, more than 800,000 customers lost electricity, and two million residents faced disruptions in water supply. The capital’s metro system ground to a halt, forcing crowds to gather at bus stops and water distribution points. As Liuba, a Kyiv pensioner, told The Globe and Mail, “From 2:30 a.m. there was so much noise. By 3:30 we had no electricity, no gas, no water. Nothing.”
Parts of Kyiv on both sides of the Dnipro River lost power, with the Pecherskyi district suffering a particularly harrowing ordeal. A drone strike on an apartment block ignited a fire, and rescue crews pulled more than 20 people from the burning building. Eight were hospitalized due to injuries from drone fragments, and five required further medical attention. “We had no power or water when I left my house. I can’t get to work because subway is not operating and buses are overflowing,” Anatoliy, a 23-year-old student, told Reuters. His words captured the chaos and frustration that many residents felt as they struggled to navigate the city’s crippled infrastructure.
The human cost of the attack was painfully high. In Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city already battered by months of conflict, a seven-year-old boy was killed when his home was struck. Four others were injured, and 12 apartment blocks were damaged. The region’s hydroelectric plant was taken offline as a precaution, further straining local resources. Across Ukraine, at least 20 people were wounded in Kyiv alone, and the death toll from related attacks continued to rise.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, bore the brunt of the assault. Its thermal power plants, already targeted more than 200 times since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, suffered serious equipment damage. “The thermal power plants’ equipment has sustained serious damage. We are working to repair this damage,” DTEK stated, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda. Despite the devastation, repair work began almost immediately, with energy workers racing to restore power and minimize the duration of outages.
The attack was not an isolated incident but part of a broader Russian strategy that has played out each winter since the 2022 invasion. By targeting energy infrastructure, Russia aims to sap Ukrainian morale and complicate daily life as temperatures drop. President Zelenskyy, speaking to reporters in Kyiv, underscored the calculated nature of the strikes: “It is precisely the civilian and energy infrastructure that is the main target of Russia’s strikes ahead of the heating season.” He further noted that Russia timed the assault to coincide with bad weather, a move that reduced the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defenses by up to 30 percent.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko labeled the onslaught “one of the heaviest concentrated strikes on energy infrastructure,” while Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba reported that two million Kyiv residents temporarily lost access to water. The country’s energy sector scrambled to assess the damage, mobilize reserves, and coordinate restoration efforts, with the immediate priority being the safety of the population and the swift restoration of essential services.
For many Ukrainians, the blackout was a grim reminder of winters past. Each year, as the cold sets in, Russia has intensified its attacks on the power grid, hoping to break the country’s resolve. Yet, the resilience of Ukraine’s energy workers and the broader population remains unbroken. “The blow is strong, but it is definitely not fatal,” President Zelenskyy told reporters, signaling both defiance and a call for continued support from international allies.
Indeed, the Ukrainian government has repeatedly appealed for more robust air defense systems, particularly the US-made Patriot system, and for the enforcement of tighter sanctions on Russia. “What’s needed is not window dressing but decisive action – from the United States, Europe, and the G7 – in delivering air defense systems and enforcing sanctions,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. The country’s leadership has also engaged with G7 ambassadors and major energy firms to discuss strategies for protecting critical infrastructure and accelerating repairs.
Russia, for its part, claimed the strikes were in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian facilities. While Ukraine does conduct drone strikes against Russian military and oil installations, these are generally on a far smaller scale. Moscow’s vision of a swift victory has long since faded, with the war now dragging into its fourth year and Russian forces holding only a portion of eastern Ukraine and Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
The October 10 assault marked the third anniversary of Russia’s first major attack on Ukraine’s power grid—a grim milestone that underscores the enduring nature of the conflict. As winter approaches, the stakes are higher than ever. Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk emphasized the need for air-defense protection for the country’s 203 main energy facilities, warning that “Russia continues to use cold and darkness as instruments of terror.”
Despite the devastation, the response from Ukraine’s energy sector and emergency services has been swift and determined. Power restoration efforts began immediately, with workers risking their lives to repair damaged lines and equipment. Experts have highlighted the importance of strengthening reserves and responding rapidly to new challenges to minimize the duration of outages and restore normalcy as quickly as possible.
As the war grinds on and the nights grow colder, Ukraine faces yet another test of its resilience. The latest Russian barrage may have plunged cities into darkness and claimed innocent lives, but it has also galvanized the nation’s resolve to endure—and ultimately, to prevail.