Ukraine was attacked with over 200 drones on New Year’s Eve as Russia targeted key energy facilities, sparking fires and worsening strain on the power grid, officials said.
Impacts were reported in multiple regions, including Odesa and the western Volyn region, where electricity supply was severely disrupted.
Ivan Rudnytskyi, head of the Volyn Regional Military Administration, said the assault left more than 103,000 households without power following what he described as a “massive Shahed drone attack,” in which “several dozen enemy targets once again struck critical infrastructure targets in Volyn.”
According to local authorities, drones hit areas in the Lutsk and Kovel districts, triggering fires. Rudnytskyi said emergency crews were deployed to affected sites.
The strikes came as Ukraine’s energy system was already under heavy pressure, with rolling blackouts planned for Thursday in several areas.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said more than 90 firefighters and rescuers were involved in extinguishing blazes at damaged infrastructure facilities, adding that there were no reports of casualties or injuries.
In Odesa, drone strikes also caused fires at key facilities and damaged residential buildings, local officials said.
“On New Year’s night the enemy ‘congratulated’ Odesa with several waves of attacks by strike UAVs,” local governor Serhiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.
“A number of emergencies were recorded in the city: falling drones and debris, fires at infrastructure facilities, and damage to residential buildings.”
“All fires were swiftly extinguished, with rescue workers, explosives experts and municipal services deployed,” he finished.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that strikes had also targeted energy infrastructure in the Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions.
“The killings must be stopped – there can be no pauses in protecting life,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “If attacks do not stop even during the New Year holidays, then deliveries of air defenc systems cannot be delayed.”
Overall, Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 200 drones overnight. Of those, 176 were intercepted or disabled, while 24 struck targets across 15 locations.
Ukraine also carried out drone attacks of its own, targeting oil infrastructure inside Russia.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that it had hit the Ilsky Refinery in Krasnodar Krai and the Almetyevskaya oil preparation facility in the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as targets in the occupied Donetsk region.