Russian drones plunge Ukraine into darkness, an attack deepening winter hardships

A large-scale Russian drone attack has intensified the suffering of Ukrainians during the winter, causing widespread power and heating outages.

The Russian assault led to electricity cuts in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, leaving thousands of residents without power or heating, the energy sector operator announced late Wednesday, as temperatures dropped below freezing.

Russia has been carrying out near-daily drone and missile attacks on Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

As in previous winters, Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, resulting in disruptions to electricity, heating, and water supplies, a policy that Kyiv and its allies say is deliberate and aimed at exhausting civilians and putting pressure on the home front.

Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, the state-owned company Ukrenergo said that “the enemy carried out a large-scale drone attack targeting energy infrastructure in several regions.”

It added that “the majority of consumers in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions lost electricity as a result of the attack.”

For his part, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Vladyslav Haivanenko reported damage to critical energy infrastructure, stating on Telegram that “the situation is difficult, but repair work will begin as soon as security conditions improve.”

In Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov announced that electricity had been restored to “key facilities,” noting that most residents remain without power.

He added, “We are working around the clock to restore electricity to all consumers as quickly as possible,” while pointing out that water supplies have largely been restored.