Over One Million Households in Ukraine Left Without Power Following Russian Attacks

Sun Dec 14 2025 18:12:17 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A series of Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure has left over a million households without electricity, causing significant damage and disruption as winter approaches.

More than one million households in Ukraine have been plunged into darkness following a wave of Russian missile and drone attacks targeting energy facilities. Injuries have been reported, and emergency services are battling fires. The attacks coincide with diplomatic efforts led by the US to find a resolution to the ongoing conflict, highlighting an urgent need for energy security and international support as winter looms.

More than a million households are without electricity in Ukraine after a barrage of overnight Russian strikes hit energy and industrial infrastructure, officials said.

Ukraine's internal affairs minister, Ihor Klymenko, said five regions were hit and at least five people were injured, and work was under way to extinguish fires and restore supplies.

While Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure have been common throughout the war, Moscow has intensified strikes as the country heads into winter.

It comes as US President Donald Trump's overseas envoy will travel to Germany this weekend to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders for more talks on ending the war.

Steve Witkoff, who has been leading White House attempts to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, will discuss the latest version of the proposed peace agreement in Berlin.

On Saturday, Zelensky said more than 450 drones and 30 missiles were used by Russia in overnight strikes. Klymenko said the Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Chernihiv regions were hit.

Russia's defence ministry said it used weapons including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in the strikes - which are hard to track as they can change direction mid-flight.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all offsite power overnight 'due to widespread military activities affecting the electrical grid', but is now reconnected.

In Russia, regional governor Roman Busargin said two people were killed in Saratov after a drone strike hit a residential building.

The Trump administration is pushing for a deal to end the war to be in place by Christmas and has held several rounds of talks with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in recent weeks, though there has been little sign a breakthrough is imminent.

It has not yet been confirmed which European leaders will attend the Berlin talks.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported details of the meeting, said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz would all take part.

The fate of territory in eastern Ukraine remains one of the most intractable topics in the negotiations, with Kyiv refusing to cede land which has been illegally occupied.

Zelensky has reacted sceptically to the White House's latest proposal on resolving the territorial question, which is for Ukraine's army to pull out of the region and for it to be turned into a special economic zone.

In public, Ukraine and its allies in Europe have described the US-led talks as fruitful. Still, there have been signs in recent weeks that Trump is losing patience with Zelensky.

As the White House's diplomatic push continues, attention in Europe is focused on supporting Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. The Ukrainian government faces a stark financial situation: it needs to find an extra €135.7bn (£119bn; $159bn) over the next two years.

On Friday, EU nations agreed to indefinitely freeze around €210bn (£185bn; $247) worth of Russian assets held in Europe, paving the way for the funds to be loaned back to Ukraine.