Electricity was reinstated to more than 800,000 residents in Kyiv on Saturday, following a devastating series of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid the previous day. The strikes, which caused widespread blackouts across the country, also injured at least 20 people in the capital and damaged residential buildings. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, confirmed that the primary restoration efforts had been completed, though localized outages persisted in some areas. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko described the assault as one of the most significant concentrated attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to date. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the strikes targeted energy facilities supporting Ukraine’s military, utilizing Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and drones. The energy sector has remained a critical battleground since Russia’s full-scale invasion over three years ago, with annual attempts to cripple Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the harsh winter months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly address, accused Russia of exploiting global focus on Middle East peace efforts and called for bolstered air defenses and stricter sanctions. Meanwhile, European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, announced plans to coordinate the use of frozen Russian assets—valued at hundreds of billions of euros—to support Ukraine’s war effort. The European Union has already contributed 174 billion euros since the conflict began in February 2022, with additional funds available through frozen Russian assets held in Belgium, Japan, and other nations. Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting or jamming 54 of 78 Russian drones launched overnight, while Russia claimed to have downed 42 Ukrainian drones over its territory.
Power restored to 800,000 in Kyiv after major Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid
