Russian forces reportedly tried to strike energy workers repairing infrastructure in the Kyiv region on Tuesday with Kh-22 missiles – heavy Soviet-era weapons notorious for poor accuracy but massive destructive power, local monitoring channels said.
The eRadar channel said employees of DTEK and Ukrenergo, two major power operators, were working at a substation after the initial strikes. Other channels reported repairs to the line linking Kyiv and a nuclear power plant. No official comment has been issued.
Kyiv declared its second air alert of the day at 9:56 a.m., warning residents: “Threat of enemy missile weapons use. Please go to shelters!”
At 9:57 a.m., the country’s largest monitoring channel, Nykolaivskyi Vanek, reported a Kh-22 missile launch heading toward Borodyanka, a town west of Kyiv, possibly targeting a substation in the Makariv district – the same facility struck by Kh-22s on Jan. 24.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces launched a massive combined strike across Ukraine between 6 p.m. on Monday and early Tuesday using 521 aerial attack vehicles:
- 4 Zircon/Onyx missiles
- 32 Iskander-M/S-300 ballistic missiles
- 7 Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles
- 28 Kh-101/Iskander-K cruise missiles
- 450 Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas drones, around 300 of them Shaheds
The main targets were the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, and Odesa regions, the Air Force said.
By 9:30 a.m., Ukraine’s air defenses had shot down or suppressed 450 targets, including 38 missiles and 412 drones. A total of 27 missiles and 31 drones hit 27 locations, with fragments falling in 17 others. Six missiles remain unverified.
Air Force Command communications chief Yuriy Ihnat said the volume of ballistic missiles complicated defense efforts.
“There is a lot, a lot of ballistics this time. Out of more than 70 missiles, only 38 were shot down, which is still a high figure given the missile types,” Ihnat said.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said that amid frost of -25°C (-13°F), Russia hit high-rise buildings and thermal power plants (TPPs) operating solely in heating mode in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. Eight regions were affected in total.
“The targets are exclusively civilian: Hundreds of thousands of families, including children, purposefully left without heat in the worst winter frosts,” Shmyhal said.
Kharkiv City Council deputy Bohdan Tkachuk, quoting Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, said Tuesday’s attack severely damaged one of the city’s main TPPs.
“Terekhov said that around 800 homes, and possibly a few more, will be forced to drain coolant from the heating systems for now, because restoring this thermal power plant is currently impossible,” Tkachuk said on television.
DTEK confirmed that its thermal power plants were seriously damaged during the overnight shelling.
Since October 2025, Russia has launched nine major strikes on DTEK facilities, and more than 220 attacks on thermal plants have occurred since the full-scale invasion, injuring 59 workers and killing 4.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is “taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people” by launching strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in subzero temperatures.
“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important for Russia than using diplomacy,” he said.
Zelensky called for more pressure on Moscow to stop its attacks on the Ukrainian population.
“Without pressure on Russia, this war will not end. Moscow is choosing terror and escalation, and that is why maximum pressure is needed. Thanks to all partners who understand and support us,” he added.