Zelensky: Russia aims to plunge Ukraine into complete darkness

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said overnight Russian strikes had targeted electrical substations in several regions of Ukraine, leaving tens of thousands of households without power. Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian officials reported civilian casualties after drone strikes on Sunday.

Zelensky said Russia has carried out 76 attacks on Ukraine's energy, oil and gas sectors in the week since US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire on energy infrastructure. On October 11, Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to respect a week-long pause in attacks on energy infrastructure due to low temperatures in Ukraine.

"Over the past week, Russia launched nearly 2.700 attack drones, 1.700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles, most of which were ballistic missiles, towards Ukraine," Zelensky wrote on social media on Sunday.

Accusing Moscow of intending to plunge Ukraine into complete energy darkness, Zelensky wrote: "Russia is not taking steps towards peace."

According to Zelensky, during the night attacks, electrical substations in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Odessa regions were targeted.

Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks killed at least two people and wounded several others in Ukraine.

In the city of Zaporizhia, in the southeast of the country, a 27-year-old woman was killed, while two other people were injured, including a six-year-old girl, the regional military administration announced.

According to her, the attacks damaged two residential buildings, 18 vehicles and an educational institution.

In the city of Poltava, in central Ukraine, a Russian drone strike killed a woman and wounded four others, the head of the city's military administration, Vitaliy Dyakivnych, said on Telegram. Nine residential buildings were damaged, some of them by falling drone debris.

In the western Vinnytsia region, Russian drone attacks on critical infrastructure caused power outages, the regional military administration reported.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 180 combat drones during the nighttime attacks, of which 152 were intercepted. Attacks were recorded at 20 locations, it said.

Russia reports casualties and infrastructure damage

In Russia, one person was killed and five others were injured by a Ukrainian drone attack in St. Petersburg, the city's governor, Aleksandr Beglov, said on Sunday.

According to Beglov, fires broke out at the St. Petersburg oil terminal, an oil depot and several industrial warehouses. 12 residential buildings were also damaged.

Russian e-commerce company Ozon said a drone hit one of its logistics centers in St. Petersburg, causing a fire. Employees were evacuated and no one was injured at the facility, the company said.

Internet company VK said drones had also targeted its data center in the Leningrad region, but its services continued to function normally for users.

A drone hit a cable-stayed bridge, part of the St. Petersburg expressway. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

The attacks also caused power outages in parts of the region. Two electrical substations in Yanino were reportedly knocked out of the grid, while operations at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport were disrupted.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense units had shot down 1.015 Ukrainian drones over various regions of Russia overnight. This number could not be independently verified.

The drone strikes also disrupted air traffic across Russia. More than 350 flights were delayed or canceled overnight at four Moscow airports on October 17 after authorities imposed restrictions amid reports of Ukrainian drone strikes in the Moscow region.

These figures were based on airport departure and arrival tables, reviewed by the independent Russian media outlet, Meduza.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defenses had destroyed 75 drones heading toward the capital. The Russian Defense Ministry said more than 600 drones had been destroyed or intercepted across the country overnight, the Interfax news agency reported.

Airports in Penza, Saratov and Sochi also suspended operations./REL