Russian strikes leave hundreds of thousands in Ukraine without power
Attacks on Ukraine's energy system disrupted electricity, water and heat days before U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi.
More than 850,000 people lost electricity in two Ukrainian regions on Sunday after Russia struck energy facilities already damaged by days of drone and missile attacks.
The immediate damage: Power company DTEK said more than 600,000 people in the Dnipropetrovsk region were without electricity after an overnight strike on an energy facility. Another 250,000 people lost power in the Kharkiv region after a separate attack. DTEK said repair work in Dnipropetrovsk was being complicated by repeated attacks.
Russia's campaign has hit far beyond those two regions. On Nov. 7, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 30 ballistic missiles and over 170 drones struck 12 Ukrainian regions, with Kyiv hit hardest. Nine people, including a child, were reported injured nationwide. The strikes disrupted electricity, water and heating in the capital, damaged residential buildings, the North Bridge and a kindergarten, and hit substations linking the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine.
Why it matters: The attacks are landing as winter approaches and as households deal with power cuts alongside interrupted water and heating. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko later said water service had returned to normal and about 60% of the city's apartment buildings had heating. Zelenskyy said Kyiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Donetsk and Kherson regions were facing the most acute energy crises.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry said Russia attacked the energy sector 128 times in the preceding week. Russia's Defence Ministry said it would continue striking Ukrainian fuel and energy infrastructure because it considers those sites connected to Ukraine's military. Zelenskyy accused Moscow of escalating the attacks to pressure Kyiv before negotiations.
The talks: Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. delegations were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks would remain trilateral, with the United States acting as mediator. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine and the European Commission had agreed to activate an emergency mechanism to speed EU funding for energy needs.
The immediate question in Abu Dhabi is whether talks can proceed while Ukraine's power crews keep working under repeated strikes.
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