In the early hours of October 10, 2025, the city of Kyiv and much of Ukraine awoke to the sounds of explosions, shattering glass, and the hum of air defenses as Russia unleashed a massive barrage of missiles and drones on the country’s energy infrastructure. The attack, described by Ukrainian officials as one of the largest and most concentrated since the war began, left at least 20 people injured in Kyiv, caused widespread blackouts, and tragically claimed the life of a 7-year-old boy in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
According to the Associated Press, the strikes in Kyiv damaged residential buildings, including a 17-story apartment block where flames rapidly spread through the sixth and seventh floors. Rescue crews managed to pull more than 20 people from the burning building. Five were hospitalized, while others received first aid on the scene. Tetiana Lemishevska, a 61-year-old resident, recounted the terrifying moment: “Everyone was sleeping and suddenly there was such a sharp sound; it was clear that something was flying. I managed to pull the blanket over my head, and then the strike hit — it blew out the windows, and the glass flew almost all the way to the door.” She added, “The fire was on the sixth or seventh floor at first, and the flames went up quickly and spread to other floors. So all the people who could left the building without knowing how it would end.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the attack knocked out power on both sides of the city, which is divided by the Dnipro River. As BBC News noted, more than 5,800 residential buildings in Kyiv were without electricity on Friday morning, with the city’s eastern districts especially hard-hit. Many residents also lost access to water, and public transportation—including the capital’s widely used underground system—was disrupted, with some stations forced to close. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba told Reuters that water supplies were temporarily cut off for 2 million people in Kyiv, and 4,000 buildings remained without water as of Friday.
The strikes were not limited to the capital. Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, reported power outages in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Cherkasy regions. Emergency power outages were rolled out to stabilize the grid, and repair crews scrambled to restore electricity. Ukraine’s biggest electricity operator, DTEK, confirmed that work was underway to repair multiple damaged thermal plants.
In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the consequences were especially dire. Local authorities told AP that a 7-year-old boy was killed and his parents wounded when residential areas and energy sites were struck by attack drones, missiles, and guided bombs. Seven others were also injured. As a precaution, a hydroelectric plant in the area was taken offline. The central Cherkasy region also saw ten people injured, according to BBC News.
Ukraine’s air force reported that the latest Russian barrage included 465 strike and decoy drones, along with 32 missiles of various types. Air defenses intercepted or jammed 405 drones and 15 missiles, a testament to the country’s improved, though still strained, defensive capabilities. Despite these efforts, the scale and coordination of the attack overwhelmed many systems. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on social media, described the strikes as “cynical and calculated” and aimed squarely at “everything that sustains normal life” as Ukraine prepares for the harsh winter ahead.
“It is precisely the civilian and energy infrastructure that is the main target of Russia’s strikes ahead of the heating season,” Zelenskyy wrote, according to CBS News. “Together, we can protect people from this terror. 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. We count on a response to this brutality from the G20 and from all those who speak of peace in their statements yet refrain from taking real steps.”
Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko called the barrage “one of the largest concentrated strikes” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to date. Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk echoed these concerns, stating, “Exactly three years ago—to the day—on 10 October, our power system experienced one of the first massive attacks. Today, Russia continues to use cold and darkness as a tool of terror.”
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, claimed that the strikes targeted energy facilities supplying Ukraine’s military, using Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and strike drones. However, Ukrainian officials and international observers pointed out that the brunt of the attack fell on civilian infrastructure—homes, waterworks, and public transportation—rather than strictly military targets. The New York Times highlighted that debris from intercepted drones fell in courtyards of apartment buildings in Kyiv’s Podil neighborhood, and that explosions and air defense fire kept residents awake throughout the night.
This assault is part of a grim annual pattern. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, each autumn has seen intensified efforts to cripple Ukraine’s power grid before the onset of winter, seemingly in hopes of eroding public morale. Ukraine’s winter runs from late October through March, with January and February being the coldest months—when reliable electricity and heating are matters of survival. NYT reported that Ukraine has responded by strengthening air defenses, fortifying transformer stations with concrete barriers, diversifying energy sources with wind and solar fields, and adding large backup batteries to the grid. Russia, meanwhile, has adapted its tactics, sending waves of drones and missiles in attacks that last for hours, attempting to evade detection and interception.
This fall, Russia has also concentrated fire on natural gas fields, pipes, and pumping stations. Ukraine’s state gas company recently reported the largest strike of the war on natural gas infrastructure, signaling a new phase in the energy war. Until January, Ukraine had continued to transport Russian natural gas to Europe through its pipelines, but with those commercial interests gone, Russian forces have now targeted this infrastructure as well.
On the diplomatic front, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking in Washington alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, expressed confidence that his administration could help broker a settlement to the war. Stubb called a settlement in Ukraine “the next big one,” noting that Russia had already been weakened militarily and economically by the conflict. Trump responded, “We’re going to work it out.” Yet, as of this week, Russian officials have declared recent U.S.-initiated peace talks to have hit a dead end, while Ukrainian officials insist that negotiations will not succeed without additional pressure on Russia.
As Ukraine braces for another winter under siege, the resilience of its people and infrastructure is once again being tested. The latest attacks underscore the high stakes of the conflict and the urgency of international support—not just in words, but in tangible action to defend against what President Zelenskyy called “terror” aimed at breaking the country’s will to fight.
The coming weeks will reveal whether Ukraine’s defenses, bolstered by international aid and hard-earned experience, can withstand another season of calculated strikes—or whether Russia’s campaign to plunge the nation into darkness will succeed where military offensives have not.