Russian barrage causes blackouts in Ukraine as Zelensky seeks Trump’s help

Russia has battered Ukraine’s energy facilities with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in its latest heavy bombardment of the country’s power grid, authorities said.

It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to ask US President Donald Trump at a White House meeting for more American-made air defences and long-range missiles.

Eight Ukrainian regions experienced blackouts after the barrage, Ukraine’s national energy operator Ukrenergo said.

DTEK, the country’s largest private energy company, reported outages in the capital Kyiv and said it had to stop its natural gas extraction in the central Poltava region due to the strikes.

Natural gas infrastructure was damaged for the sixth time this month, Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company, said.

Mr Zelensky said Russia fired more than 300 drones and 37 missiles at Ukraine overnight.

He accused Russia of using cluster munitions and conducting repeated strikes on the same target to hit emergency crews and engineers working to repair the grid.

“This fall, the Russians are using every single day to strike our energy infrastructure,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian power grid has been one of Russia’s main targets since its invasion of its neighbour more than three years ago.

Attacks increase as the bitterly cold months approach in a Russian strategy that Ukrainian officials call “weaponising winter”.

Russia says it aims only at targets of military value.

Ukraine has hit back by targeting oil refineries and related infrastructure that are crucial for Russia’s economy and war effort.

Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday its forces struck Saratov oil refinery, in the Russian region of the same name, for the second time in two months.

The facility is located some 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Moscow made no immediate comment on the claim.

Ukrainian forces have resisted Russia’s bigger and better equipped army, limiting it to a grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and southern regions.

But Ukraine is hard to defend from the air in its entirety, and Kyiv officials are seeking more Western help to fend against aerial attacks and strike back at Russia.

Mr Zelensky was expected to arrive in the United States on Thursday, ahead of his Oval Office meeting with Mr Trump on Friday.

Ukraine is seeking cruise missiles, air defence systems and joint drone production agreements from the United States, Kyiv officials say.

Mr Zelensky also wants tougher international economic sanctions on Moscow.

The visit comes amid signs that Mr Trump is leaning towards stepping up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock in US-led peace efforts.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday in Brussels that if Russia will not budge from its objections and refuses to negotiate a peace deal, Washington “will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression”.

Also, Mr Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil.

That would deny Moscow income it needs to keep fighting in Ukraine.

Washington has hesitated over providing Ukraine with long-range missiles, such as Tomahawks, out of concern that such a step could escalate the war and deepen tensions between the United States and Russia.

But Mr Trump has been frustrated by his inability to force an end to the war in Ukraine and has expressed impatience with Mr Putin, whom he increasingly describes as the primary obstacle to a resolution.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Economy Ministry said on Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with US company Bell Textron to co-operate in aviation technology.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based aerospace and defence company will open an office in Ukraine and establish a centre for assembly and testing, while exchanging know-how and training Ukrainians in the United States, according to a ministry statement.

Ukraine, unsure what it can expect from Western allies, is keen to develop its own arms industry.

On Wednesday, a Ukrainian government delegation met during a US visit with prominent American weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.