Russia kills four in Kyiv strikes as attacks hit power grid before winter
Russia kept up its weeks-long missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region, killing four people, including a child, officials said on Wednesday. The overnight strikes targeted the power grid and a key internet exchange point, adding to pressure on Ukraine as it prepares for winter.
Moscow has sharply stepped up its aerial campaign since the end of August, when Russia regularly strikes energy facilities to cut off heating and running water. Ukrainian officials say Moscow is not engaging with US efforts to stop the fighting, 4 1/2 years after Russia invaded its neighbour. Moscow says it wants a comprehensive settlement rather than a temporary truce, but Kyiv rejects its demand that Ukraine surrender land.
According to the authorities, three people were killed in Kyiv and at least four others were wounded. Another person, a child, was killed near the city. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration, said the child died in a private home in Vyshhorod in the wider Kyiv region, and three other people were rescued from the rubble.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that the main Russian targets were energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding region. He described it as “a difficult attack” as Moscow stretches Ukraine’s air defences.
Zelenskyy thanked foreign countries supporting Ukraine for recent deliveries of air defence assistance. “And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need,” he said. “We must do everything to ensure that Russia’s bet on ballistic missile and drone terror does not pay off.”
Ukrainian officials say Russia has been exploiting gaps in the country’s air defences by using ballistic missiles and new jet-powered drones, both of which are difficult to stop. Air raid alerts have continued to disrupt daily life, forcing people into shelters and hurting economic activity.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Russia fired 2,850 jet-propelled drones at Ukraine in August, but by Tuesday it had already launched 3,177 this month. He told Ukrainian television late on Tuesday that the attacks were coming in waves, mostly aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region. He said Ukraine needs more missiles for US-made Patriot air defence systems to intercept ballistic missiles, as well as more missiles for other ground-based air defences.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its overnight attack hit a hydroelectric power plant, a thermal power plant, an electrical substation, an energy storage facility and a data centre. Ukrainian officials did not confirm those claims, but authorities said civilian areas in at least four districts of Kyiv were hit.
The latest barrage underlined Russia’s intensified air campaign against Kyiv and nearby areas, with officials reporting deaths, injuries and damage to energy and civilian infrastructure as Ukraine heads towards winter.
