Russia launched 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, causing blackouts in Kyiv, while racing to build a rival to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network .
The strikes damaged electricity substations connecting the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine . They also hit the Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River and a kindergarten in Kyiv's Solomyansky district, leaving a large crater in its grounds . More than a dozen people were injured across Ukraine, including at least two children, and one person was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region .
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of seeking to "plunge the entire country into a blackout" ahead of US-brokered talks scheduled for Tuesday in Abu Dhabi . He said Russian forces had used North Korean KN-23 missiles and urged Washington to increase support, citing a shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors .
According to the Financial Times, Moscow's flagship space project would enable more deadly drone strikes deep inside Ukraine . Zelenskyy said in Madrid on Thursday that every power plant in Ukraine has been damaged by attacks and that repair crews were working around the clock .
Since 2022, the Kremlin has repeatedly exploited cold weather to intensify air strikes on energy and civilian sites . Heading into this winter, attacks have already left thousands of Ukrainians without heat or electricity .
