A massive combined Russian missile and drone assault struck across Ukraine overnight into 22 October 2025, killing at least six people and injuring others as strikes hit cities and electrical infrastructure. Kyiv and multiple regions reported fires, building damage and emergency power outages as air defences battled waves of weapons through the night. Officials said strikes included ballistic and cruise missiles followed by strike drones aimed at energy targets.
Damage concentrated on energy sites and urban districts
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry and regional governors said the attack deliberately targeted power plants, thermal stations and distribution nodes, producing emergency rolling blackouts in most regions and localized water and heating disruptions. Kyiv authorities reported fires and damage across several districts, with rescue services evacuating residents from damaged high-rise blocks and treating the wounded. Local officials in Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv described hits to oil, gas and power facilities that compounded winter vulnerability.
Civilian toll and humanitarian risk highlighted by leaders
Ukrainian leaders called the strikes an attempt to weaponize winter by degrading electricity and heat supplies to force civilian suffering and population movements, a campaign they say aims to create political pressure on Kyiv and its partners. International and Ukrainian statements emphasised children among the dead and the acute humanitarian strain of simultaneous outages and housing damage across major cities.
Western reaction and diplomacy affected by renewed attacks
The strikes coincided with reports that Moscow had rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, prompting U.S. officials to shelve a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin; Western capitals warned of stepped-up measures if attacks on civilians and infrastructure continue. Kyiv and its partners have renewed appeals for stronger air-defence deliveries, sanctions against revenue channels that fund strikes, and coordinated emergency energy assistance.
Calls for urgent military and energy assistance
Ukrainian officials urged immediate deliveries of additional air-defence interceptors, medium- and long-range systems to raise the cost to operators launching mass strikes, and a coordinated “energy lend-lease” of transformers, spare substation equipment, generators, fuel and cabling to speed repairs. Analysts and officials warned that only a combined military, economic and technical response could blunt the strategic aim of sustained winter pressure on civilian lifelines.
