Zelensky says Russian strikes cut power to households; Ukraine hit Russian missile plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia struck energy infrastructure in four Ukrainian regions overnight. He said hundreds of thousands of households were left without power. The BBC and CGTN both reported his statement. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not independently verify that figure or name the four regions. BBC and Reuters headlines refer to "thousands" of households.

Zelensky also said Ukraine hit a plant in Russia's Rostov region that is involved in missile production. The BBC describes it as a major missile fuel producer. CGTN names it as the Kamensky plant. According to the BBC, Zelensky said the strike caused a fire and damaged four production facilities. According to CGTN, Moscow did not comment on the reported attack.

Zelensky urged the United States and European partners to provide more air defence aid, or to deliver it faster. CGTN quoted him as saying: "The intensity of the strikes is very high, and the Russians are seeking to maximally exploit the deficit of ballistic missile interceptors." The BBC rendered his description of the intensity as "extremely high". Both appear to be translations.

Separately, a warning of radiation over Kyiv appeared in the Air Alarm application. The BBC quoted Ukraine's Air Force as saying: "The Air Alarm application has probably been subjected to hostile interference. There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel."

Casualties and outages

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, cited by the BBC, an overnight strike killed two people in the Vinnytsia region, including a 13-year-old girl. According to the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, most customers there had power restored by early evening, but more than 60,000 remained without electricity. The BBC reports emergency power cuts across Ukraine. In Kyiv, electricity is cut for most of the day and water supplies are disrupted.

Drone attacks

According to CGTN, Ukraine's air force said it shot down 371 of 433 long-range drones launched by Russia since Saturday evening. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces downed 235 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions. Neither figure is independently verified. Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin said a large-scale drone attack caused "significant damage" to an industrial facility, which he did not identify. Kyiv did not immediately claim responsibility, according to CGTN.

Kherson truce

According to the BBC, a localised humanitarian ceasefire in the Kherson region was due to end on Sunday evening. It had held since Tuesday, while fighting continued elsewhere. The BBC reports it was brokered with the help of US First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo. It first covered Russian-occupied Oleshky, then the wider region. Residents had faced severe shortages of food, water and electricity. The truce allowed them to evacuate via southern Russia and Belarus. According to ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, the oldest evacuee was 94 and the youngest was one.

What each side says

• Zelensky: Russia is exploiting Ukraine's shortage of interceptors. Ukraine tells partners daily that it needs Patriot missiles.
• Russia: On Friday, it said Ukraine had resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries and ignored a request from US President Donald Trump to stop, according to CGTN.
• Ukraine: It supports a full ceasefire on energy targets, but says Moscow is unwilling to agree, according to CGTN.

Analysis

The reports point to continued strikes on energy and industrial sites by both sides. Ukraine's public appeals focus on air defence supply. Several key figures rest on statements by officials rather than independent checks. These include household outages, drone interceptions and damage at the Rostov plant. Whether the Kherson truce could serve as a model for other local arrangements is an open question. Another open question is whether talk of an energy-target ceasefire gains traction. The apparent interference with Ukraine's alert app also raises questions about information security. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not say who was responsible.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.