Russian Missile Strikes Across Ukraine Kill Six and Disrupt Power Infrastructure

A series of massive Russian air attacks across Ukraine has resulted in the deaths of at least six people and left more than half a million residents without electricity. The strikes, which targeted critical energy and communications infrastructure, occurred just days after United States President Donald Trump announced an "energy ceasefire" in the four-year-old conflict.According to the Russian Defence Ministry, their forces executed a "massive" strike against energy and communications facilities. Official reports confirm that hits were recorded at two power and heating plants in Kyiv, two additional plants in the surrounding region, and an electricity substation. Further strikes impacted a heating and power facility in Kharkiv and a thermal power plant that the Russian ministry claimed was supplying the Ukrainian military in the southeast of the Kharkiv region. Additionally, Russia reported that it hit a data centre in Kyiv used for intelligence gathering.The human toll was significant, with the Ukrainian state emergency service reporting that a strike on a multistorey building in Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district claimed two lives, while another attack in the Golosiivsky district resulted in one death. Furthermore, the Ukrainian military confirmed that two individuals were killed and six wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region, with an additional death reported in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. Al Jazeera reported that a record number of hypersonic missiles were utilized in the assault on the capital.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed sharp frustration following the attacks, noting that Ukraine received no early warnings from its Western partners regarding the ballistic missile launches. "A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, no early warning from our partners," he stated on Facebook. He accused Russia of violating the recently declared energy ceasefire, describing the strike as "entirely deliberate" and an act of "ostentatious disrespect" towards the United States.In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged civilians to seek shelter as power disruptions affected multiple urban districts. DTEK, the nation's largest private energy provider, confirmed that emergency power cuts were implemented following the damage to energy facilities. Reports of missile activity also emerged from the Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions, highlighting the widespread nature of the campaign.Concurrently, complications were reported regarding military technology. A technology adviser to the Ukrainian president, Sergiy Beskrestnov, alleged that SpaceX implemented speed restrictions on Starlink terminals during the night. He noted that the terminals, restricted to speeds below 160 kilometres per hour, disrupted ongoing combat missions, adding that Ukrainian defense forces were not alerted to these changes.The hostilities extended into Russian territory, where authorities reported significant Ukrainian drone activity. The governor of Russia’s Saratov region, Roman Busargin, stated that a drone strike in the city of Balakovo killed one person. While Sberbank confirmed that its data centre in the region was targeted by drones, it maintained that all systems remained operational. The Russian military claimed it intercepted hundreds of drones overnight, reporting that nearly 500 were downed near Moscow, with an additional 180 intercepted in the Rostov region, bringing the total number of downed drones to 902.