{"id":2000129554,"date":"2026-10-17T15:26:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000129554"},"modified":"2026-10-17T15:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:31:49","slug":"russian-attacks-hit-ukraines-power-grid-as-winter-approaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/russian-attacks-hit-ukraines-power-grid-as-winter-approaches\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian attacks hit Ukraine\u2019s power grid as winter approaches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The attacks, reported on Friday, October 16, damaged homes and other civilian infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials, while Russia continued its aerial campaign against the country\u2019s energy facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strikes come amid worsening relations between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, raising concerns that strained ties with Washington could leave Kyiv more vulnerable to further Russian attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine\u2019s power infrastructure ahead of winter, threatening electricity, heating and water supplies relied upon by civilians during the cold months. Ukrainian officials have warned that Moscow is stockpiling ballistic missiles for further attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the campaign against energy infrastructure has also involved Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities. Kyiv has targeted Russian refineries and other energy assets, arguing that they help finance and sustain Moscow\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine struck a refinery in Russia\u2019s Ryazan region on Thursday, October 15, after announcing that it would no longer observe a brief suspension of attacks on energy targets, saying Russia had failed to respect the arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kremlin, meanwhile, said the terms of an energy truce had not been agreed upon. Trump had called for both sides to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy calls for support as tensions with Trump grow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy attended a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday, where leaders pledged continued support for Ukraine and urged Washington to maintain pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters, Zelenskyy said Ukraine wanted to end the war but had seen no indication that Moscow was ready to stop its military campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to end this war as quickly as possible. We do not see signals from the Russian side that they are ready for this, to end this war. That\u2019s why we have to prepare for the winter,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His remarks came as tensions with Trump intensified following public criticism from the US president, who said he did not consider Zelenskyy a good person for the United States to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy also raised concerns about disruptions to military satellite communications and Ukraine\u2019s difficulties obtaining US-made Patriot air defence missiles, which are needed to intercept Russian ballistic missile attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian leader criticised Trump\u2019s diesel deal with Russia, saying it could undermine international efforts to isolate Moscow over its invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also appealed to Americans who support Ukraine, saying: \u201cThere are so many people with good hearts in America who sincerely want evil to lose and Ukraine to stand strong. And at the end of the day, the American people will have their say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe pledges continued assistance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

European leaders expressed concern over the deterioration in relations between Kyiv and Washington and called for continued support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was struggling to persuade the United States to take a tougher approach towards Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also trying to convince our American partners that if we want to end this war, then we have to squeeze the aggressor,\u201d Kallas said. \u201cWith our American allies it\u2019s very difficult at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy told European leaders that Ukraine\u2019s war effort would cost about 155 billion euros, equivalent to $174 billion, next year, and that Kyiv would need at least 70 billion euros, or approximately $79 billion, in European assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Putin instructed Russia\u2019s military to continue its aerial campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian military chief Valery Gerasimov told Putin that attacks on energy facilities, bridges, railways and data centres would continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civilian casualties rise sharply<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest attacks come amid a sharp increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report by the United Nations human rights office in Ukraine, at least 328 civilians were killed and 2,105 injured in September. The total represented an 85 per cent increase in casualties compared with September last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danielle Bell, head of the UN human rights office in Ukraine, said the recent attacks had taken a heavy toll on civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first two weeks of October were among the deadliest periods for civilians in years,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Russian
Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine came under renewed attack overnight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian attacks on nine regions of Ukraine have disrupted electricity supplies to hundreds of thousands of households and wounded at least 15 people, as the country faces growing concerns over its energy security ahead of winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000129557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[151,101],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000129554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-editors-choice","tag-internationl","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000129557,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/E2DMBQCKXFI57MWM2B6CRCGLS4-1.jpg","alt":"Russian attacks hit Ukraine\u2019s power grid as winter approaches","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":960,"height":699,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/E2DMBQCKXFI57MWM2B6CRCGLS4-1.jpg","width":960,"height":699},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/E2DMBQCKXFI57MWM2B6CRCGLS4-1.jpg","width":960,"height":699},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/E2DMBQCKXFI57MWM2B6CRCGLS4-1.jpg","width":960,"height":699},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/E2DMBQCKXFI57MWM2B6CRCGLS4-1.jpg","width":960,"height":699},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/E2DMBQCKXFI57MWM2B6CRCGLS4-1.jpg","width":960,"height":699}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000129554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000129554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000129554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000129556,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000129554\/revisions\/2000129556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000129557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000129554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000129554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000129554"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000129554"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000129554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}