Russian strikes leave 600,000 without power as Ukraine seeks stronger air defence

Russian missile and drone strikes killed three people in Kyiv and left at least 600,000 people without electricity overnight, according to Ukrainian authorities and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Kyiv and Kharkiv were the main targets and that Zelenskyy put the number of damaged energy facilities at 30. These are Ukrainian assessments, rather than independently audited totals.

The warning dispute

In an overnight account of a call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Ukrainian presidency said Kyiv had again received no advance warning from partners about a ballistic missile launch. It described a damaged residential building, evacuations and a strike on the grounds of one of the capital’s principal power plants. That early account gave a lower casualty toll than Wednesday morning’s reporting.

Competing accounts of intelligence sharing

The lack of an alert does not by itself establish that Washington ended intelligence cooperation. Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was still sharing intelligence, Reuters reported. Kyiv has not publicly identified which partner it expected to provide the missing warning. Russia’s defence ministry, meanwhile, said it had struck six power plants in and around the two cities; that is Moscow’s account of its targets.

A test for Britain’s missile pledge

The new overnight damage is separate from Britain’s missile-package announcement covered earlier today by Accordmere. Downing Street has said £10 million of a £45 million package will be accelerated for Ukraine’s winter needs. The immediate issue is how quickly equipment and warning information can reach Ukrainian forces while attacks continue. Delivery and operational use remain to be verified.

What the photograph shows

The State Emergency Service photograph shows firefighters tackling a blaze at a Kyiv apartment building after the evening attack on 13 October. It does not show a power station or establish the total damage to the energy network.