Massive Russia Missile-Drone Strike Causes Ukraine Blackouts

Russia launched one of its largest overnight missile-and-drone assaults on Ukraine, with Kyiv reporting 52 missiles and about 653 Shahed-type drones (roughly 705 projectiles in some counts) that struck energy infrastructure and residential areas across regions including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia and Lviv. The strikes killed at least three people, including a 7-year-old girl, wounded dozens (including children), destroyed residential buildings and heavily damaged several DTEK thermal power plants, prompting nationwide emergency outages, round-the-clock blackouts and electricity restrictions ahead of winter. Ukrainian leaders urged the West for more air-defence systems and tougher sanctions; President Zelensky warned Shahed drones have become especially dangerous and announced plans to scale up interceptor-drone production and to use domestically produced long-range weapons in retaliation. Ukraine is ramping up production of advanced interceptor drones and has aimed to produce between 500 and 800 units daily by November, though Zelensky emphasized the critical challenge of training sufficient operators to manage these systems effectively. Separately, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces reported strikes on three Russian oil-and-gas sites, while Moscow said it targeted military-industrial facilities, shot down many Ukrainian drones and claimed limited territorial gains.