Russia Launches Massive Missile and Drone Strikes on Ukraine’s Energy Grid

Russia launched a massive wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine early Thursday, October 16, targeting gas and power infrastructure and plunging parts of the country into darkness.

The assault one of the largest in recent months hit energy facilities in eastern regions including Kharkiv and Poltava, forcing shutdowns and triggering widespread outages across eight regions.

“There are hits and destruction in several regions at once. The operation of a number of critically important facilities has been halted,” said Sergii Koretskyi, CEO of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz.

Ukraine’s national grid operator confirmed emergency blackouts following the bombardment. President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure.”

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched 320 drones and 37 missiles overnight. Defenders intercepted 283 drones and five missiles, but several key energy sites were still hit. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, said one of its major gas production facilities was forced offline.

Media reports estimate that recent Russian strikes have disrupted around 60% of Ukraine’s gas production and left hundreds of thousands without power.

Since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022, Moscow has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy grid each winter — a strategy aimed at crippling the country’s power supply and breaking civilian morale.

The Kremlin continues to claim that its forces only target military infrastructure, but international investigators have accused Russia of deliberately striking civilian sites. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for two senior Russian military officials, calling the attacks on Ukraine’s energy network a war crime due to the “excessive harm” caused to civilians.

In response to the latest wave, Kyiv renewed its plea for more Western air defence systems to protect critical infrastructure. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, have intensified retaliatory strikes on Russian oil refineries in a bid to undermine Moscow’s energy production capabilities.