Russian air strikes overnight left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without electricity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday. According to him, Russia hit energy infrastructure in four Ukrainian regions, cutting off power supplies to hundreds of thousands of households.
Zelensky said on Telegram that the intensity of the attacks was extremely high and that the Russians were trying to exploit the lack of ballistic missile interceptors to the greatest possible extent. He added that Ukraine had meanwhile struck the Kamensky plant in Russia's Rostov Oblast, which he claims is involved in the production of Russian missiles. Moscow did not comment on the alleged strike.
On the other hand, Russian authorities reported significant damage to an industrial plant following Ukrainian drone attacks on Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Governor Gleb Nikitin stated that the massive overnight attack caused substantial damage to an industrial facility, but did not specify which object was hit. The region is home to the NORSI oil refinery, one of the largest in Russia. The regional government said it was taking steps to ensure fuel supplies to petrol stations, urging drivers to buy fuel only as needed and to avoid panic buying, Interfax reported. Kyiv did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
Both sides continued long-range air strikes. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces shot down 235 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight. The Ukrainian Air Force stated that it had shot down 371 of a total of 433 long-range drones launched by Russia from Friday evening, adding in a morning report that dozens of Russian drones were still in the air on Sunday morning. In Kyiv, drone air alerts were declared six times from midnight.
A six-day local ceasefire around the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Oleshky lasted until its final day. On Friday, Russia announced that Ukraine had continued attacks on its oil refineries and accused Kyiv of ignoring US President Donald Trump's request to halt such strikes. Trump claims the attacks are raising diesel prices ahead of next week's US mid-term elections. Ukraine emphasises that it supports a complete ceasefire on energy targets, including its own heavily damaged power grid, but says Moscow is unwilling to agree to this.
In an interview with state television channel Vesti on Sunday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees the energy sector, did not mention the attack in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Novak said that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries further disrupt the balance in the global fuel market and affect prices.
