Russian strikes cut power to hundreds of thousands in Ukraine

Russian strikes have plunged hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian homes into darkness, authorities reported on Sunday. The ongoing drone and missile attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have left residents in the cold as the country braces for a harsh winter. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, over 600,000 people were left without power after a "night attack damaged important energy facilities", according to the local power company DTEK.

The company is working tirelessly to restore electricity but faces "complicated by repeated attacks". In the northeastern Kharkiv region, nearly 250,000 customers in Zlatopil city were left without power following a strike on a critical infrastructure facility. Mayor Mykola Baksheyev stated that repair works were underway, but the exact time for restoring power supply remains uncertain.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the strikes had triggered "widespread power outages across the country", with 140 apartment buildings left without heating in the Zhytomyr region alone. Zelensky also revealed that Russia had launched a drone at Komyshuvakha, a village in the Zaporizhzhia region where an aid distribution centre was hit earlier in the week.

The death toll from the attack has risen to 55 people, with initial reports estimating it at 50. As temperatures in Ukraine hover around freezing, Ukraine faces a challenging winter of war with Russia intensifying its daily aerial barrages against the power network.