Russia's Biggest Attack Yet: Ukraine's Power Under Fire

Russia launched a huge number of missiles and drones, targeting Ukraine's power plants. This was one of the biggest attacks since the war began. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the attack happened overnight and into the morning. Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down many of the missiles and drones. The energy minister, German Galushchenko, said the attack hit power plants all over Ukraine. Some regions had to turn off power suddenly. DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, reported damage in several regions. The attack came after Ukraine and Russia tried to talk about stopping attacks on each other's energy systems. These talks were happening with Qatar as a middleman. But the talks stopped again last week. The attack happened as both Ukraine and Russia are trying to get an advantage before Donald Trump becomes president again. He wants to make them talk peace. In Kyiv, sirens went off all night and into the morning. People got alerts about missiles and drones coming. An FT reporter saw Ukrainian air defenses shooting down missiles over Kyiv. Poland's armed forces also got involved, sending jets to help. Ukrainian authorities said there were explosions and damage in many cities. In the southern city of Mykolayiv, two people died and six were hurt, including two children. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, said the attack was one of the biggest of the war. He said it targeted peaceful cities and civilian areas. He criticized western leaders who met with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Ukraine had been worried about this attack for weeks. They thought Russia was getting ready to attack their power system before winter. Earlier attacks in March and April caused big blackouts. DTEK said Ukraine might have power outages for up to 20 hours a day if the attacks continue. But they hope their allies will give them more air defense systems to stop more damage.