Ukraine: Russian attacks leave tens of thousands without power

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on Sunday that Russian strikes targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure have plunged thousands of households into darkness. Specifically, the Kremlin's assault targeted substations, transformers, and power lines across four regions: Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyi. Zelenskyy highlighted on social media that the intensity of the strikes is "extremely high," with hundreds of thousands of families currently lacking electricity.

The Ukrainian leader's remarks came amid reports that Russian authorities had launched a "massive" drone strike overnight in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia, destroying over a hundred drones. Although no casualties were reported, the governor of the region, Gleb Nikitin, indicated that the attack resulted in significant damage to an industrial facility in the Kstovsky district.

Nikitin added that temporary power outages and reduced hot water and heating services might occur during the restoration process in certain sections of the utility networks serving residential buildings. Meanwhile, Russia's Samara region governor earlier blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on an oil refinery in Novokuibyshevsk city on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Kyiv had agreed to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries until after the U.S. midterm elections on November 3 under pressure from President Donald Trump. However, Ukraine continued to strike Russian energy infrastructure even after the ceasefire announcement, with the Kremlin persistently bombing Ukrainian energy infrastructure.