Russia unleashed a ferocious overnight barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine, killing at least six civilians—including two boys aged 11 and 14—and plunging tens of thousands into darkness by targeting the nation’s fragile energy grid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes as deliberate “harm on civilians,” while prosecutors confirmed fatalities in Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions. In Zaporizhzhia, nearly 58,000 households lost power, underscoring Moscow’s renewed campaign to freeze and demoralize the population as winter looms.

The assault came amid escalating ground pressure on the strategic eastern hub of Pokrovsk, where Kyiv deployed elite special forces to counter thousands of advancing Russian troops. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky described a “comprehensive operation” to repel infiltrators already inside the city’s logistics center, with battlefield analysts warning of a Kremlin pincer movement. Capture of Pokrovsk would hand Putin a propaganda coup and tighten his grip on Donetsk, despite U.S. calls for a halt to the nearly four-year invasion.

Ukraine retaliated with audacious drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, setting an oil tanker ablaze at the Black Sea port of Tuapse and damaging Rosneft’s terminal, according to presidential advisor Vladyslav Vlasiuk. Unverified social-media footage showed flames engulfing the facility, highlighting Kyiv’s strategy of mirroring Moscow’s energy-war tactics. Russia has consistently denied targeting civilians, claiming strikes hit only military objectives—a narrative dismissed by Kyiv and Western allies as the death toll mounts.

Also Read: EU Plans to Use Russian Frozen Billions to Finance Ukraine’s War Despite Legal Risks

Since Putin’s February 2022 “special military operation” to “demilitarise” Ukraine and block NATO expansion, the conflict has become Europe’s bloodiest since World War II. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians lie dead, millions remain displaced, and both sides dig in deeper. With Pokrovsk under siege and power grids collapsing, Zelenskyy warned the attacks expose Russia’s true aim: not victory on the battlefield, but the systematic breaking of Ukrainian society.

Also Read: Ukraine’s AI-Powered Sea Drone Threatens Russia’s Black Sea Dominance