Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities, targeting power infrastructure and residential areas.
Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack across Ukraine early on 17 November, hitting power infrastructure and striking residential sites, according to Ukrainian authorities.Â
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko defined the assault as “massive,” marking one of the most intensive strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since early September.
How did Russia’s missile and drone attack impact Ukraine’s cities?
Ukrainian military sources said that early this morning, seven Russian Tu-95MS bombers launched an effective wave of cruise missiles from Olenegorsk, which penetrated Ukrainian airspace around 6:30 a.m. For nearly an hour, the bombardment hit major cities, including Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, and Zaporizhzhia, with air attack sirens sounding and residents pursuing shelter. The strikes pushed widespread power outages, strengthening a sustained Russian offensive targeting critical infrastructure across Ukraine.
The attack combined a capacity of munitions, including “Shahid” drones, cruise missiles, and advanced ballistic weapons like hypersonic Zircon, Iskander, and Kinzhal missiles, seeking to disrupt Ukraine’s energy systems. Ukrainian authorities calculate that around 120 missiles and 90 drones were deployed in the spell, with the objective of crippling essential infrastructure nationwide. Despite the hierarchy and intensity of this offensive, Ukraine’s air defence forces successfully thwarted 144 out of the 210 missiles and drones fired by Russia, especially reducing the potential impact on energy and civilian infrastructure.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, air defence functions activated in almost every area, including Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv. In several areas, 41 Russian drones were put down, with two others reported to have turned towards Russian-occupied regions.
