KYIV, Ukraine — Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions at Ukraine’s energy and critical infrastructure overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, in an attack that left at least 600,000 people without power.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said the strikes hit Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv, and that a Russian ballistic missile hit energy infrastructure — “the very infrastructure covered by the ceasefire announced by the American President.”
“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States,” he wrote. “Russia does not consider the American President’s statements strong.”
At least 600,000 people are without power, and outages could become even more widespread, Zelenskyy said. The attack damaged 26 facilities of Ukraine’s power system and four oil and gas facilities, he said, and there were fatalities and injuries. He gave no toll.
Zelenskyy thanked the repair crews, energy workers and State Emergency Service personnel working to repair the damage.
“Russia has squandered the opportunity for de-escalation and has clearly chosen to continue its insane war of annihilation.”
He asked the United States and “EVERYONE in the world who does not turn a blind eye to reality” to respond, “and to respond forcefully.” He asked President Donald Trump to impose strong sanctions on Russia, pointing to the sanctions bill championed by Senator Lindsey Graham, which he said was recently passed and signed into law and which authorizes and regulates such measures. He also asked for additional packages of Patriot missile interceptors for Ukraine.
“Peace can only come through strength, and we ask America to remember this principle of Reagan’s,” Zelenskyy wrote. He closed the post: “Glory to Ukraine!”
CNN reported its journalists in Kyiv heard multiple explosions during the attack, and that Russia’s defense ministry claimed Russian forces had downed 902 drones overnight, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. The attack came hours after Zelenskyy said Ukraine had received no early warning from its partners ahead of a deadly Russian strike on a Kyiv power plant on Tuesday, CNN reported.
