Russia fires 365 drones and missiles at Ukraine's power grid
Russia launched 289 drones and 76 missiles at Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in what the Kyiv Independent called the biggest attack on Ukraine's energy system this year. Three of DTEK's five thermal plants went offline, and power was cut across several regions.
AI-assisted · US Brief desk · Sources listed below
What happened
Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, 365 in all, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, Reuters reported. Strikes hit energy sites from Odesa in the south to Rivne in the west, and the Kyiv Independent reported it was the biggest mass attack on Ukraine's energy facilities this year, across ten regions.
Why it matters
Talks brokered by the United States are set for Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 and 11, and a short local truce around Oleshky had just ended. "It is very telling that all of this is happening on the day of the US congressional elections," Zelenskiy said. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said of serious Russian negotiating, "I have not seen any sign of this so far." The European Commission was set to meet Wednesday with U.S. and NATO officials, and NATO allies planned consultations Thursday.
More context
The damage: Private energy company DTEK said three of its five thermal power plants stopped generating and that there were no casualties, according to preliminary information. DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko called it "one of the most serious attacks ever" and said, "It is clear Russia is dangerously escalating its efforts to deny Ukrainians critical services like energy this winter." Outages were reported in Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions, the Kyiv Independent reported. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called the power situation "extremely difficult."
Nuclear concern: Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said three drones were aimed at a substation vital to the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant, which he said could "create a threat not only to Ukraine but also to nuclear safety throughout Europe." He said Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Russia's account: Russia's Defence Ministry said it struck energy facilities that power military factories, Reuters reported. In the city of Dnipro, regional officials said two people were killed and about 20 wounded.
Earlier strike: Zelenskiy said at least 33 people were killed Monday when a school used as an aid distribution site in the village of Komyshuvakha was bombed twice, with about 50 believed buried under rubble. Russia said it targeted Ukrainian military units there and killed up to 25 servicemen.
What's still unknown: How long the outages will last, the full extent of damage to the plants, whose figures on the Komyshuvakha strike are accurate, and whether the Abu Dhabi talks go ahead as planned.
Weak spot: Casualty and weapon counts in this war come mostly from the two governments fighting it, and each side has reasons to shape the numbers. Neither side's figures here have been independently confirmed.
3 listed sources
- Reuters via CNBC TV18, Russia launches 365 missiles, drones at Ukraine, cuts power across regions ahead of US peace talks, Nov. 4, 2026
- Kyiv Independent, Russia launches biggest mass attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this year, Nov. 4, 2026
- DTEK, Dozens of missiles and drones halt generation at three DTEK power plants, Nov. 4, 2026
References listed by US Brief; a source count is not a verification score.
Editorial sourcing notes
Weapon counts and casualty figures come from Ukrainian officials (Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, regional authorities) and Russia's Defence Ministry, as reported by Reuters and the Kyiv Independent; US Brief cannot independently verify them. The hero photo is a file image from a February 2026 blackout in Kyiv, not from this attack.
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