Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday (November 7, 2026) accused Russia of intensifying strikes across the country to put pressure on Kyiv at upcoming talks after an overnight barrage triggered power cuts as temperatures drop.
Mr. Mr. Zelenskyy also said Russia had, throughout the night, launched 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles, among which, according to him, were KN-23 missiles manufactured and supplied by North Korea.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said “a massive attack on a number of energy facilities” had plunged five regions into darkness and significantly hampered electricity transmission in Kyiv and surrounding region. Zelenskyy said the timing of the aerial barrage showed that Russia had a “very particular view of diplomacy” as it struck ahead of “another joint effort with our partners to reinvigorate negotiations”. “By intensifying its attacks on Ukraine and our infrastructure at this very moment, Russia is trying to lay the groundwork for putting pressure on Ukraine’s position and that of its partners,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. They hit “one of the key energy facilities that was damaged”, Mr. The Russian Defence Ministry in a statement on Saturday (November 7, 2026) said it had struck “facilities belonging to the military-industrial complex, the energy sector, and transport infrastructure” in Kyiv and its surrounding region. Consumers in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions were left without power, the Energy Ministry said.
