The “complex, massive” attacks are part of Moscow’s continued targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after Ukraine and Russia exchanged hundreds of drone attacks on Tuesday night.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, electrical substations situated in northern Ukraine were targeted by Russian strikes, alongside a cargo vessel transporting supplies meant for the Ukrainian military in the Black Sea. Ukrainian strikes hit a large logistics center and a data center in Russia.
Data from a Russian statement indicated that the Nalivaikovka power substation located in the Kyiv region and the Chizhovka power substation positioned in the Zhytomyr region were both hit during the Russian strikes. Power generation facilities and substations across nine regions—namely Odesa, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, and Rivne—suffered damage in the overnight Russian assaults, according to Zelenskyy.
The Russians carried out a complex, massive attack overnight, aimed primarily at our critical infrastructure. And the main target was energy – power generation facilities and substations – in the Odesa, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, and… pic.twitter.com/HgMtbMPVC6
“In many cities and communities, emergency and unscheduled power outages are ongoing,” wrote Zelenskyy in a social media post, noting that the strikes followed a deadly attack on an aid distribution site on Monday in a village in southern Ukraine that killed 31 people.
Air Forces Intercept Hundreds of Drones
By Wednesday morning, reports from Ukraine’s Air Force stated that 272 Russian drones had been successfully intercepted and shot down through the use of aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups. Combat operations remained ongoing with 20 drones still airborne.
On the other side, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 709 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, occupied Crimea, the Sea of Azov, and the Black Sea.
Murat Kumpilov, who serves as the head of the Republic of Adygea, reported that a major logistics hub in Adygeysk located in southern Russia—run by Ozon, one of the country’s premier e-commerce retailers—was struck by Ukrainian drones. The facility ranks as one of the company’s largest in southern Russia.
A total of eight individuals, featuring four children among them, sustained injuries near the Russia-Ukraine border after apartment buildings and vehicles were struck by Ukrainian attacks, as stated by regional Governor Alexander Shuvaev. In Russian-occupied Crimea, power supply restrictions were imposed because of an accident outside the region, according to Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian-installed regional head. Russian media reports stated that a telecommunications company and a data center were hit by strikes in Russian-occupied Donetsk.
| Target / Region | Reported Impact / Incident | Source / Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Kyiv and Zhytomyr Regions | Nalivaikovka and Chizhovka power substations struck | Russian Ministry of Defense |
| Nine Ukrainian Regions | Power generation and substation damage causing emergency outages | Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Southern Ukraine | Aid distribution site attack killed 31 people on Monday | Russian attack |
| Adygeysk, Southern Russia | Large e-commerce logistics hub (Ozon) struck | Murat Kumpilov |
| Russia-Border Region | Eight people injured, including four children, in apartment and car strikes | Alexander Shuvaev |
Authorities Impose Temporary Airport Restrictions
Temporary restrictions were imposed at airports across Russia, affecting cities including Krasnodar, Kaluga, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Izhevsk, Bugulma, Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Volgograd, Samara, Ulyanovsk, and Ufa, alongside Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports.
The upcoming mid-November peace talks mediated by the United States in Abu Dhabi coincide with these extensive military exchanges between Ukraine and Russia. Kyiv has sought an end to Russian strikes on energy and other critical infrastructure as the winter season approaches.
