Russian drone barrage cuts power to hundreds of thousands in Ukraine as Kyiv hits refinery and Rostov arms plant

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian families lost electricity on Sunday after an overnight Russian drone attack on energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine, meanwhile, carried out long-range strikes on an oil refinery and a defence plant inside Russia.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 433 long-range drones from Saturday evening, including jet-powered Shahed types, and that 371 were shot down or jammed. Zelenskyy said substations, transformers and power lines were hit in the Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytskyi regions. Energy company DTEK brought in emergency power cuts in Kyiv.

Casualties and pressure on air defence

Regional officials reported one person killed in Sloviansk in the Donetsk region and at least 47 injured across the country over the previous day, the Kyiv Independent reported. The largest numbers of injuries were in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. Three DTEK workers were among those hurt.

Zelenskyy said Russia was trying to exploit a shortage of interceptor missiles and urged European partners to speed up aid deliveries. He said decisions on air defence must be carried out now. He also said Russia had fired about 1,940 attack drones, more than 1,580 guided bombs and 44 missiles at Ukraine over the past week.

Ukrainian strikes inside Russia

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces struck the Kamensky plant in Russia's Rostov region, which he described as a missile production site, along with Russian air defence equipment. These claims could not be independently verified.

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the governor said a large drone attack on Sunday caused significant damage to an industrial facility. Ukrainian media identified it as the Kstovo oil refinery. Russian investigators opened a terrorism case, the state news agency TASS reported, and no casualties were reported. Russia's Defence Ministry said 235 Ukrainian drones were brought down over Russian territory overnight. Senior official Alexander Novak said Ukraine had hit three refineries and a gas-chemical complex since Friday.

Talk of talks

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said President Vladimir Putin had never refused talks and would likely take a call from Zelenskyy. He added that initial negotiations should involve only Russia, Ukraine and the United States. Kyiv did not directly respond to that offer in the reports reviewed.

For India, the renewed attacks on Russian refineries and the coming winter energy crisis in Ukraine matter because of their effect on global fuel prices and diesel supply. Indian refiners and importers watch these markets closely.