Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine and cut power to 600,000

Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least six people in Ukraine and left at least 600,000 without electricity, Ukrainian officials said, days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced what he called an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said critical energy infrastructure was hit in Kyiv, the surrounding region and the northeastern city of Kharkiv. In the capital, three people were killed and 21 injured, Ukraine’s state emergency service said. The Ukrainian military reported two more deaths and six injuries in the Dnipropetrovsk region, while another person was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to Al Jazeera.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had carried out “massive” strikes on communications and energy facilities in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions that it said were used by Ukraine’s military. According to Al Jazeera, the ministry identified heat and power plants, a thermal power plant and an electricity substation among its targets. It also said it struck a Kyiv data centre used to gather intelligence on Russian forces.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters as power disruptions spread. “Energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region have come under a massive ballistic missile strike,” he wrote on Telegram. Ukraine’s largest private energy provider, DTEK, said it imposed emergency power cuts in several districts of the capital.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 39 ballistic and cruise missiles and 128 drones overnight. It said Ukrainian defences shot down four missiles and 115 drones. Al Jazeera reported further missile attacks in the Kharkiv and Zhytomyr regions and strikes in Sumy and Chernigiv.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on social media: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Zelensky accused Russia of violating that announcement with a deliberate strike on energy infrastructure. He also said Ukraine received no advance warning of the ballistic missile attack from its Western allies, detecting the missiles only as they neared Kyiv, according to Al Jazeera.

Zelensky has repeatedly said Ukraine is prepared to stop striking Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities if Moscow does the same. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Ukraine does not deserve the “respite” a ceasefire would bring, arguing that Europe could use a truce to supply it with more weapons.

Russia also reported Ukrainian drone attacks overnight. Its Defence Ministry said it shot down 902 Ukrainian drones over several regions, including 180 near Moscow. In Russia’s Saratov region, Governor Roman Busargin said a drone strike killed one person in Balakovo, Al Jazeera reported. Sberbank said its data centre in the region was attacked but its systems continued operating normally.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moscow now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.