Russia has launched one of its heaviest bombardments on Ukraine’s energy sector since it launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Almost 200 drones and 93 missiles were fired during the massive aerial attack against Ukraine during the morning rush hour on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russia claimed the attack was in retaliation for Kyiv's use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles, the country’s Defence Ministry said on Friday.
Poland scrambled fighter jets due to the Russian attack in western Ukraine to “ensure the security of Polish airspace,” the country’s military said on X.
On-duty fighters were scrambled, and Polish ground-based air defences and radar reconnaissance systems reached the highest state of readiness, it added.
The Polish Operational Command of the Armed Forces later said the Russian long-range strikes had ended and that it is constantly monitoring the situation in Ukraine.
The Russian ministry said that long-range precision weapons and drones were used against "critical facilities of Ukraine's fuel and energy infrastructure that support the military-industrial complex."
Ukrainian defences shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles that were intercepted by F-16 warplanes provided by Western allies earlier this year, Mr Zelensky added.
Russia is "terrorizing millions of people" with such assaults, he said on his Telegram channel, renewing his plea for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike - a massive reaction. This is the only way to stop terror," Mr Zelensky said.
The attack was Russia's 12th major assault on the energy system this year, damaging power facilities in several Ukrainian regions and forcing authorities to impose even longer electricity cuts for millions of civilians, the national grid operator said.
Concerns were also raised about how “Russia’s renewed attacks on Ukraine’s increasingly fragile energy grid further endanger nuclear safety” at an emergency meeting in Vienna.
Corinne Kitsell, the UK’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: “No nuclear power plant is designed to cope with such instability in the electricity grid.
“In such unprecedented circumstances, it is difficult to predict the scale of impact, but such regular power transients and shutdowns will increase the stresses placed on the reactors and equipment at Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants.
Ms Kitsell added: “Ukraine’s operators are doing all they can to mitigate these risks, but this cannot continue. This is not about politics but the prevention of a nuclear incident.“
Six unspecified energy facilities were damaged in the western region of Lviv that borders Poland during the attack on Friday, officials said.
Officials said they had imposed additional power cuts due to the attack. In the region outside Kyiv, the power cuts were scheduled to last for 11 hours, up from eight hours before the attack. Around a half of power company Yasno's 3.5 million consumers were without power on Friday, their CEO said.
But uncertainty surrounds how the war might unfold next year. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has vowed to end the war and has thrown into doubt whether vital US military support for Kyiv will continue.
The US Embassy in Kyiv said Friday's attack also targeted transport networks and other key facilities.
Russia has repeatedly attempted to cripple Ukraine's electricity system in an effort to break the will of civilians left in the dark with no running water or heating and to disrupt Ukrainian defence manufacturing.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said energy workers were doing everything necessary to "minimise negative consequences for the energy system," promising to release more details on damages once the security situation allowed it.
Ukraine's air force reported multiple strike drones launched at Ukraine overnight followed by swarms of cruise missiles in the country's air space.
It said Russia also used air-launched ballistic Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine's western regions.
Moscow has declared that the aerial attacks are aimed at hobbling Ukraine's defense industry, thwarting the production of missiles, drones, armored vehicles and artillery, among other weapons.
A similar massive attack on November 28 involved about 200 missiles and drones and left more than a million households without power until emergency teams restored supplies.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for more attacks.
On November 21, Russia for the first time used an intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile to strike an industrial plant in the city of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine.
Putin described the attack with the Oreshnik missile as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with longer-range Western weapons.
He declared that more attacks with the new weapon could follow, and US officials warned on Wednesday that the Oreshnik could be used again in coming days. There was no immediate sign one was launched in Friday's attack.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine struck an air base in Taganrog in the southern Rostov region with six US-supplied ATACMS missiles, injuring several soldiers and damaging buildings and a few vehicles. It vowed to strike back.
Around half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the almost three years of war with Russia, and rolling electricity blackouts are widespread.
Kyiv's Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defence systems to help it protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has sought to overwhelm the air defenses with combined strikes involving big numbers of missiles and drones.
Russia has held the initiative this year as its military has steadily rammed through Ukrainian defenses in the east in a series of slow but steady offensives.
Mr Zelensky will attend a meeting with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, NATO and the EU in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss support for his country in its war with Russia, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on Friday.
The meeting comes as European countries face the possibility of the US, Ukraine's largest source of support, changing its approach to the conflict when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.
