Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a large-scale missile and drone bombardment overnight, officials have said.
The attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said talks with the US on ending the three-year war will take place next week.
Ukraine came under a “massive missile and drone” attack, energy minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook.
A firefighter works to extinguish a blaze following a Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
At least 10 people, including a child, were injured, authorities said.
“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by striking energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without light and heat, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” Mr Halushchenko wrote.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid during the war.
The attacks have depleted electricity generation capacity and disrupted critical heating and water supplies.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of “weaponizing winter” in an effort to erode civilian morale.
Russia fired 67 missiles from air, land and sea and launched 194 strike and decoy drones, Ukraine’s air force said.
Ukrainian servicemen drive the US Humvee on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine (Andriy Andriyenko/AP)
Their primary target was Ukraine’s natural gas extraction facilities, it said.
For the first time, Ukraine deployed French Mirage-2000 warplanes delivered a month ago to help repel the attack, according to the air force.
Ukraine also has Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to shoot down Russian missiles.
Ukrainian defences downed 34 missiles and 100 drones, the air force said, while up to 10 missiles did not reach their targets and 86 drones were lost from radars, presumably jammed by electronic warfare.
Western-supplied air defence systems are crucial for Ukraine’s fight but further US help is uncertain under President Donald Trump, who says he is determined to end the war and has paused American military aid for Kyiv as a way of pressuring Mr Zelensky to negotiate.
In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky said on Thursday he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the country’s crown prince, and his team would stay on to hold talks with US officials.
Mr Zelensky welcomed a European Union plan to bolster the continent’s defences.
He expressed hope that some of the new spending could be used to strengthen Ukraine’s own defence industry.