Russia Strikes Ukraine’s Power Grid: 36 Missiles and 172 Drones Hit Kyiv Ahead of Peace Talks
Russia launched one of its heaviest overnight attacks on Ukraine in months, firing 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones at Kyiv and 12 other regions, wounding nine people and knocking out parts of the power grid just three days before Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to sit down for peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
The main target was Ukraine’s energy system. Substations that carry electricity from two nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine were damaged, homes and a kindergarten were hit, and one of Kyiv’s main bridges over the Dnipro River was struck and closed to traffic. With winter approaching, the attacks left the capital’s heating and water supplies under severe strain.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing for the talks by “launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure” — and urged the United States, and Congress in particular, not to leave Ukraine to face the blackout alone.
What happened overnight
The attack came on the night of 6–7 November 2026. According to President Zelenskyy, all 36 ballistic missiles were aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding Kyiv region, while the 172 drones were spread across the capital and 12 other regions.
Nine people were wounded across the country, including one child, Ukrainian officials said. The missiles and drones damaged homes and commercial buildings in Kyiv, and a kindergarten in the capital was partly destroyed.
Kateryna Korniichuk, 64, was at home with her granddaughter when one of the strikes hit. “The first blast wave threw us against that wall and then against the other wall, because we were in the corridor. It’s very hard. No sleep, no peace — nothing. The children aren’t sleeping, and neither are we,” she told The Associated Press. “I’m old, I can handle it, but what have the children done wrong?”
Ukraine’s air force said its defences intercepted four of the missiles and 149 of the drones, but enough got through to cause serious damage.
The power grid took the hardest hit
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the strikes damaged the networks that carry electricity from nuclear power plants to Kyiv and the country’s central regions. A substation connecting the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine was hit in the Kyiv region, and substations were also damaged in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Power cuts were reported in five regions, and the Energy Ministry said the damage to the networks feeding the capital was extensive. Repairing the damaged equipment and restoring stable electricity supplies to Kyiv will take time, the ministry said, without giving a date.
The outages were separate from the scheduled rolling blackouts that Ukraine already uses to protect its grid. Those remain in force across much of the country, so many Ukrainians were already living with planned power cuts before this attack made things worse.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, described the city’s energy situation on Saturday as “extremely difficult, affecting the city’s heating and water supply systems.” He later said water pressure in the capital had been stabilised, but the heating situation remained serious as temperatures fall.
Why the power grid matters so much
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy system, and the timing of this attack is no accident. Winter is coming, and electricity is not just about light — in Ukrainian cities it runs the heating systems, the water pumps and the hospitals.
When a substation linking a nuclear power plant to the grid is damaged, the electricity it produces cannot reach homes, even if the plant itself is still working. That is why attacks on transmission lines and substations can be as damaging as attacks on power stations themselves.
Ukraine’s two plants named in this attack — Rivne and Khmelnytskyi — are in the west of the country. The substations that connect them to Kyiv carry power across hundreds of kilometres, and repairing high-voltage equipment takes specialist parts and time.
This is the pattern of Russia’s winter campaign: hit the energy system hard enough that ordinary life becomes difficult, and put pressure on the government in Kyiv at the same time as negotiations are under way.
Kyiv’s Northern Bridge is closed
One of the most visible targets was Kyiv’s Northern Bridge, known in Ukrainian as the Pivnichnyi Bridge. The 816-metre bridge carries traffic across the Dnipro River, connecting the city centre with large residential areas on the eastern bank.
Missiles hit the bridge and traffic was closed in both directions. Mayor Klitschko said repair work was already under way on Saturday.
Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed that it had targeted the bridge, saying it was used to transport weapons, military hardware and specialist equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.
The ministry also said its forces had hit an industrial facility in Kyiv that produces Flamingo missiles, a power station, an electrical substation, and a plant producing ammunition, explosives and gunpowder in the wider Kyiv region. It confirmed striking an electrical substation in the Zhytomyr region as well.
The toll in the south keeps rising
Away from Kyiv, the human cost of the war continued to grow in southern Ukraine. In the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble on Saturday, six days after Russian guided bombs hit a former school and a nearby shelter where residents were waiting for humanitarian aid.
Emergency services said they had recovered nine more bodies in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll early on Saturday to 55. Dozens of people remain missing.
Mykola Krasnov, 72, said he was still looking for his wife. “She went to get humanitarian aid, and a three-ton bomb was dropped there. Where is she?” he said. “She didn’t come home, and they didn’t find her body there. She isn’t in the morgue, and she isn’t here alive.”
Ukraine also struck back overnight. A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person in Russia’s Belgorod region when a drone hit a private home in the town of Grayvoron, local officials said. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 411 Ukrainian drones overnight over 10 Russian regions, as well as over Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas. A drone attack damaged civilian infrastructure and several residential buildings in the Saratov region, where Russian media reported the Saratov Oil Refinery had been hit, and an attack in the Oryol region damaged warehouse and production sites.
What Zelenskyy is asking the US to do
President Zelenskyy used the attack to press Washington for more help. “When Russia tries to plunge Kyiv — a city of millions — and the entire country into a blackout, Ukraine must not be left to face this alone,” he said.
He called for greater US support, bipartisan backing in Congress, and stronger sanctions on Russia. His message is aimed at American lawmakers as much as at the White House: Ukraine needs air defence systems to shoot down missiles and drones, and it needs the money and equipment to repair its power grid.
The appeal comes at a sensitive moment. Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to meet on Tuesday, 10 November, in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at ending the war. It will be the fourth round of negotiations brokered by the Trump administration, the most recent having taken place in Geneva in February.
Western governments backing the peace effort are looking for a new formula to break the deadlock, while accepting that the hardest questions — territory and security guarantees — remain unresolved.
What happens next
Three things will decide how this story develops over the coming days.
First, the repairs. Ukraine’s engineers will be working around the clock to restore the damaged substations and reconnect Kyiv to the nuclear plants in the west. Until that work is done, millions of people in the capital face more power cuts, less heating and unreliable water.
Second, the talks in Abu Dhabi. The fact that Russia launched one of its biggest missile attacks of recent months just days before sitting down to negotiate will shape the mood at the table. Ukraine will arrive arguing that Moscow is not serious about peace; Russia will argue that it is striking military and energy targets while talks continue. The US, as broker, will have to decide how much pressure to put on each side.
Third, the response from Washington. Zelenskyy’s call for more air defences and tougher sanctions will test how far the Trump administration and Congress are willing to go. Ukraine’s argument is simple: every missile that gets through is one that air defences failed to stop, and every blackout is a reminder of what is at stake.
For the people of Kyiv, the immediate question is more basic: will the lights stay on, and will their homes stay warm? The answer, for now, depends on repair crews working under the threat of the next attack.
Frequently asked questions
How many missiles and drones did Russia fire at Ukraine overnight?
President Zelenskyy said Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region, and 172 drones across Kyiv and 12 other regions, on the night of 6–7 November 2026.
How many people were hurt?
Nine people were wounded across Ukraine, including one child, according to Ukrainian officials.
What was damaged?
Substations linking the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine were hit, along with substations in five other regions. Homes, commercial buildings and a kindergarten in Kyiv were damaged, and the city’s Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River was struck and closed.
Why is the power grid being targeted?
Electricity runs heating, water and hospitals in Ukrainian cities. Damaging substations and transmission lines can cut power to millions of people even when the power plants themselves keep working.
When are the peace talks?
Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to meet on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, in Abu Dhabi. It is the fourth round of talks brokered by the Trump administration.
Has Ukraine struck back?
Yes. A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person in Russia’s Belgorod region, and Russia said it shot down 411 Ukrainian drones overnight. Drone attacks also damaged sites in the Saratov and Oryol regions.
Sources
- Associated Press via The Week, “Missile attacks wound 9 as Ukraine prepares for talks with Russia US”, 7 November 2026: https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2026/11/07/missile-attacks-wound-9-as-ukraine-prepares-for-talks-with-russia-us.html
- Ukrainska Pravda, “Russia attacks substations connecting Kyiv to nuclear power plants and infrastructure overnight – Zelenskyy”, 7 November 2026: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/11/07/8061693/
- Interfax-Ukraine, “Russia attacks substations linking Rivne, Khmelnytsky NPPs to Kyiv, central regions – Zelenskyy”, 7 November 2026: https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/1232773.html
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
