KYIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -- Russia bombarded Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure in waves on Tuesday, knocking out power to large parts of the country with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones, a week before US-brokered peace talks were due to resume.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 33 people had been killed on Monday when Russia twice bombed a school being used for aid distribution in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. About 50 people were still believed to be buried under the rubble, he said.
Russian officials said Ukraine had set fire overnight to a major oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl.
The attacks, less than two days after the end of a brief humanitarian truce in the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky agreed with the help of US first lady Melania Trump, did not bode well for the talks the US has scheduled for Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11.
Moscow said its forces had targeted Ukrainian military units in areas around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region. It said in a statement Tuesday that up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed, while 15 vehicles and an electronic warfare station had also been destroyed.
At a news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy said the attack showed that Moscow was intent on killing people instead of building on the humanitarian ceasefire in and around Oleshky.
Germany has become Ukraine‘s largest supporter in its war against Russia’s invasion since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency last year and withdrew US financial support.
Merz said the talks were "the right step" to help bring the fighting to an end and that Europe must be part of the process.
"But I would also say it is important for Russia to finally engage in serious negotiations on a ceasefire and a subsequent peace agreement," he added. "I have not seen any sign of this so far."
Ahead of those talks, the European Commission said it would host a meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday with the US, NATO and European allies, as well as Ukraine itself. Zelenskyy said they would discuss a "prosperity plan" and security guarantees for Ukraine. The transatlantic alliance said it would host further consultations on Thursday.
Zelenskyy said Russia had launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles overnight, hitting power plants and substations from the Black Sea port of Odesa in the south to Rivne in the west.
Ukraine‘s largest private power generation company, DTEK, said three of its five thermal power plants had been knocked offline.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on Telegram, described the power situation in the city as "extremely difficult." Russia, he said, was "continuing to destroy Ukraine’s unified energy system," damaging generating capacity and transmission lines. Facilities in and around Kyiv had been damaged in recent days, prompting the introduction of emergency power cuts.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, writing on Telegram after meeting Western ambassadors, said Russian forces had deployed three drones toward a substation vital to the operation of the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant.
These actions, he said, "create a threat not only to Ukraine but also to nuclear safety throughout Europe."
Khmelnytskyi is one of Ukraine‘s four nuclear plants, including the Zaporizhzhia station, which has been under Russian control since the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion.
With memories still fresh of last winter’s bitter cold, when Russian strikes left millions without power and heating for days at a time, many Ukrainians fear the months ahead as several cities already suffer prolonged outages.
"This winter is going to be very hard," said Olha Hyria, a 49-year-old resident of Dnipro in central Ukraine.
"Russia is striking power plants, heating plants, and that means this winter is going to be very difficult."
In Dnipro, two people were killed and about 20 wounded in the attacks, regional officials said.
Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said a train station, passenger carriages and locomotives had also been hit.
"It is very telling that all of this is happening on the day of the US congressional elections," Zelenskyy said, appealing to allies for additional air defenses. "The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them. But such terror must be noticed and stopped."
Russia‘s Defense Ministry said its troops had struck electricity facilities in several regions that supply power to military factories and the Ukrainian army.
In more than four years of war, Russia has repeatedly targeted the Ukrainian energy system, destroying generation, distribution and heating facilities. The attacks have worsened each year as winter approaches. This year, Ukraine has stepped up its strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Ukrainian officials said the overnight onslaught was one of the largest of the war, causing power cuts across the capital, Kyiv, and at least six other regions, and disrupting water supplies and transportation in the capital.
