The key facts

  • Two people were killed in Ukraine (Sloviansk, Kherson) and one in Belgorod region; 35 wounded in total according to the parties
  • Zelensky: Russia attacked more than 15 energy facilities, calling it one of the largest strikes on the sector
  • The Russian Defense Ministry reported intercepting 610 Ukrainian drones; the Ukrainian Air Force reported 293 downed targets out of more than 330

Losses in Ukraine

According to Ukrainian authorities, a Russian airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, killed one person and wounded ten, said the head of the city military administration, Vadym Lyakh, on Facebook. According to him, eight apartment buildings were damaged, two of them partially destroyed, with people remaining under the rubble. In Kherson region, an airstrike killed one person and wounded 19, said the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, on Telegram. In Zaporizhzhia region, five people were injured in an attack on a residential area where apartment buildings were damaged and parked cars caught fire, said the head of the regional administration, Mykhailo Semikin.

Attack on the energy sector

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia on Friday carried out 'one of the largest strikes' on the energy sector, attacking more than 15 critically important electricity generation and transmission facilities. According to him, the hardest hit were Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Shepetivka, Slavuta and Netishyn; facilities in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions were also hit. 'The Russians have escalated their anti-energy operation and are trying to stretch our reserves and repair capacities as thin as possible,' Zelensky wrote on X. He accused Moscow of seeking to cause a blackout before winter, leaving Ukrainians without electricity and heating.

Statement on the Lindsey Graham Act

Zelensky said that during the massive attack, the United States made the decision to 'completely ignore' the Lindsey Graham Act, which, according to him, was supposed to exert effective pressure on Russia to end the war. 'This law could have helped a lot — and it still can!' he said. According to him, the US 'sanctions blackout,' weakening pressure on the aggressor and financial rewards for Russian President Vladimir Putin only encourage the continuation of attacks.

Statements by the parties on the scale of the attacks

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched more than 330 drones and missiles, of which 293 aerial targets were suppressed or shot down. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that its forces carried out a 'massive strike' on metallurgical plants, a transformer plant and energy infrastructure in Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr.

Attacks on Russian territory

In Belgorod region, a Ukrainian drone hit a passenger car, killing one person; another person was injured in a drone attack in the village of Voznesenovka, regional operational headquarters reported on Telegram. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian air defense intercepted and destroyed 610 Ukrainian airplane-type drones over Russian territory, over Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, and over the Black Sea. Independent verification of the parties' claims is difficult amid the ongoing war.