Russian missiles pound Ukrainian cities in massive morning attack, energy infrastructure hit
Editor's Note: This story is developing and will be updated.
Russia launched a large-scale missile attack at Ukraine in the early hours of Oct. 16, targeting cities in several regions, as well as Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
"Russia launched more than 300 attack drones and 37 missiles, a significant number of them ballistic, against Ukraine," wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X. "This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure."
Zelensky identified strikes hitting the regions of Poltava, Kharkiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Chernihiv.
The strikes began with MiG-31 bombers taking off from multiple Russian airfields around 5:20 AM. Shortly thereafter, explosions rocked multiple Ukrainian cities. Explosions were reported in Kharkiv and Izium (Kharkiv Oblast), Kropyvnytskyi (Kirovohrad Oblast), and Poltava, according to news outlet Suspilne.
Subsequent strikes hit Chernihiv and another round of explosions was heard in Kharkiv. Chernihiv Oblast Governor Dmytro Bryzhynskyi later reported that the attack struck an undisclosed enterprise in the city. Vyacheslav Chaus, the head of the oblast's military administration, wrote that a drone struck a residential building in the town of Nizhyn, injuring two people.
Four people were injured in Kharkiv Oblast during the morning attacks on energy infrastructure, a representative for the oblast's military administration told the Kyiv Independent.
Energy producer DTEK reported that the attacks struck a natural gas facility in Poltava Oblast. Emergency blackouts are now in place in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Later in the day, the Ukrainian military announced that two ballistic missiles had hit a Ground Forces training ground. They acknowledged casualties but did not specify numbers or the location of the strike.
Information about further damage and casualties is still coming in.
The attack comes hours after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop killing Ukrainians during a press conference in the Oval Office on Oct. 15.
Trump is set to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Oct. 17, where the two leaders will discuss Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities, air defense needs, and the possibility of the U.S. providing Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.
Russia has warned that Tomahawks would be a major escalation that would demand an aggressive response — even as Moscow batters Ukrainian cities and civilian targets with long-range missiles night after night.
Moscow has been ramping up mass attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure ahead of winter, causing blackouts and heavy damage to critical facilities as the weather worsens and the nights get longer.
A mass missile attack against Kyiv on Oct. 10 damaged a thermal power plant in the city and left hundreds of thousands of households without power. The attack also killed a child and injured 24 people.
