Russia hammers Ukraine’s power grid with massive drone and missile assault, blacking out over a million homes as winter deepens.
Overnight strikes from Friday into Saturday deployed nearly 500 drones and 30 missiles, crippling energy networks in southern regions like Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Kherson, and Sumy.
Ukrainian forces downed most threats, but blackouts injured five and sparked fires, with crews rushing restorations amid freezing conditions—a tactic echoing Moscow’s seasonal infrastructure campaigns.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Russian-held and reliant on grid power for cooling, lost external supply for over an hour, running on diesel backups before reconnection, per IAEA warnings.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Berlin with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to review Kyiv’s 20-point peace plan, including EU entry by 2027 to balance Donbas concessions.
Zelenskyy has reacted sceptically to the White House’s latest proposal on resolving the territorial question, which is for Ukraine’s army to pull out of the region and for it to be turned into a “special economic zone”. “What will restrain [Russia] from advancing? Or from infiltrating disguised as civilians?” said Zelenskyy.
Trump pushes for Christmas deal despite stalled talks and frustration with “weak” Europeans, as EU freezes €210B Russian assets for potential Ukraine loans amid €135.7B needs.