Russia pounds Ukraine power grid; aid-centre strike kills dozens

· Security · Ukraine · Russia

Russia launched a multi-wave bombardment of Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Tuesday, firing dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones and knocking out power to swathes of the country, a week before US-brokered peace talks are due to resume in Abu Dhabi. In the past 24 hours at least 38 people were killed, including a "double tap" strike on a school used as an aid distribution centre in southern Ukraine that local authorities said killed at least 31; officials said at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs hit the village. President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "vile terrorist attack" and warned dozens more could be trapped under rubble. Strikes on Dnipro killed two and damaged residential areas and medical facilities. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, hosting Zelensky in Berlin, said Russia must show at Abu Dhabi that it is serious about a ceasefire.

Why it matters：The escalation tests whether the upcoming Abu Dhabi talks can produce a ceasefire, while damage to Ukraine's power grid before winter raises humanitarian and military risks for Kyiv and pressure on its allies.

Key points

  • Russia fired dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones in multiple waves at energy facilities.
  • A double-tap strike on a school used for aid distribution killed at least 31, local authorities said.
  • Zelensky met Chancellor Merz in Berlin ahead of next week's Abu Dhabi talks.

Sources (original reporting)

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