Kyiv Plunged Into Darkness, Child Killed as Russia’s Missiles Pound Ukraine’s Energy Grid

A wave of Russian missile and drone strikes early Friday hit Ukraine’s energy grid and residential areas, killing a seven-year-old boy in Zaporizhzhia and leaving more than half of Kyiv without electricity, officials said.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 497 aerial weapons overnight, including 32 missiles and 465 drones of various types. Ukrainian air defenses – including fighter aircraft, missile units, and mobile fire groups – were active throughout the night, intercepting or disabling 420 targets.

Among them were 405 Shahed and Geran drones, a Kinzhal aeroballistic missile, four Iskander-M ballistic missiles, nine Iskander-K cruise missiles, and one Kh-59/69 air-launched missile.

13 missiles and 60 drones hit their targets, while falling debris from intercepted weapons caused additional damage at seven other sites.

The large-scale assault targeted at least 10 energy facilities across the country, triggering fires, power outages and damage to water systems. The Ukrainian Air Force said the capital came under massive attack from ballistic missiles and strike drones aimed at critical infrastructure.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 12 people were wounded in the capital, including eight hospitalized, after strikes hit key power facilities.

“The left bank of the capital is without electricity. There are also problems with water supply,” he wrote on social media.

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Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said emergency crews were working to restore power as quickly as possible.

“Energy workers are taking all necessary measures to minimize the negative consequences,” she said.

Six districts of the capital were left partially without electricity, and emergency blackouts were introduced across Kyiv region, according to energy company DTEK.

The outages were caused by local grid failures resulting from Russia’s strikes on the energy infrastructure, the company said.

“By order of Ukrenergo, emergency power cuts have been introduced. Standard blackout schedules are not in effect,” DTEK reported.

Repair crews were working to restore electricity in affected areas, while authorities urged residents in Kyiv and surrounding districts to use power sparingly.

In Kyiv, Russian drones also hit residential buildings, setting fire to a high-rise apartment block in the central Pecherskyi district.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control after flames engulfed apartments on the sixth and seventh floors, according to city military administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said a seven-year-old boy died in hospital after being wounded in the nighttime strike.

“Tragic news. A seven-year-old boy who was wounded in a nighttime Russian attack has died in hospital,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram.

Authorities in Zaporizhzhia also reported that gas infrastructure had been damaged in the strikes. The regional gas supplier Zaporizhgaz urged residents and businesses to temporarily limit their consumption of natural gas.

As a safety precaution, traffic across the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station Dam in Zaporizhzhia was temporarily closed. “These are preventive measures. Movement will resume as soon as the security situation allows,” Fedorov said.

“This was a serious escalation in Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s energy system – both its generation capacity and grid network,” said Maksim Timchenko, CEO of energy giant DTEK.

“At DTEK assets alone, this was the fourth attack in a week. Russia’s terrorist intentions against the Ukrainian people are clear.”

The attack came nearly three years to the day since Moscow began its campaign to destroy Ukraine’s power grid – a tactic repeated each winter in an effort to plunge the country into darkness and cold.

Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of the US-based non-profit Hope for Ukraine, said Russia’s latest assault marked a “horrific new low” and urged Western allies to urgently provide advanced air defense systems.

“Russia’s overnight missile and drone strikes that targeted more than 10 energy facilities, killing a seven-year-old boy in Zaporizhzhia, are not warfare – this is deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure to freeze and terrorize Ukrainian families as winter approaches,” Boyechko told Kyiv Post.

He called on Western nations to send more Patriot batteries, NASAMS systems, and long-range interceptors to protect Ukraine’s energy network.

“Every day of delay means more children like this seven-year-old will die, more families will freeze in darkness, and more civilians will suffer from Russia’s calculated campaign to destroy Ukraine’s energy grid,” he said.

“The international community has the technology to stop these attacks – the question is whether we have the will to act before more innocent lives are lost to Putin’s winter warfare strategy.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated as more confirmed information becomes available.