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Zelenskyy Urges Allies To Respond As Ukraine Battles To Restore Power After Attacks

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 09, 2025

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy kept up his call for additional Western pressure on the Kremlin as the death toll rose from the latest Russian attacks and as authorities struggled to restore power following strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

State energy provider Ukrenergo said power would be reduced in most regions for eight to 16 hours on November 9 while repairs were made to the system and supplies were rerouted. The cuts would affect the capital, Kyiv, it said, among other major cities.

Ukrenergo urged customers to "please consume it sparingly" when power was available following the attacks early on November 8.

"The enemy inflicted a massive strike with ballistic missiles, which are extremely difficult to shoot down. It is hard to recall such a number of direct strikes on energy facilities since the beginning of the invasion," Svitlana Grynchuk told Ukrainian media.

Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address late on November 8, urged Kyiv's Western allies to respond to Russia's attacks with further sanctions on Moscow and weapons for Ukraine.

"Pressure on Russia is still insufficient," he said.

"Any [further] weakening...only encourages [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to prolong the war, inflict more damage on our country, our people, and others around the world," he added.

Ukrainian authorities said the death toll from the November 8 attacks had risen to seven, while energy infrastructure in multiple regions had been damaged by Russian drone and missile strikes, sparking emergency power outages and blackouts affecting thousands of people.

"Russia once again targeted substations that power the Khmelnytskiy and Rivne nuclear power plants," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on Telegram.

"These were not accidental, but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately jeopardizing Europe's nuclear safety," he added while calling for an urgent meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog to respond to the "unacceptable risks."

Zelenskyy earlier said Russia had launched more than 450 drones and 45 missiles of various types, framing the strikes as aimed at normal life, residential buildings, energy facilities, and infrastructure.

"For every strike Moscow launches on our energy system in an attempt to hurt ordinary people before winter, there must be a sanctions response against the entire Russian energy sector without exceptions," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Power cuts were also undertaken in the Poltava region under a special emergency outage schedule ordered by Ukrenergo, with Kremenchuk -- a city of 200,000 people -- reporting a complete blackout, prompting the opening of temporary public hubs offering heat, power, Internet, water, and basic aid.

In Dnipro, a Russian drone strike hit a nine-story residential building, with at least three people reported killed.

Damages and casualties were also reported in Kharkiv -- which saw subway service suspended and disruptions to electricity and water -- and in Kyiv, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Ukraine Hit Back At Sites Inside Russia

Ukraine has continued to conduct deep strikes on Russian energy sites using drones, saying the goal is to deprive the Kremlin's military with desperately needed fuel.

Kyiv has urged the United States to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia as Moscow intensifies air attacks on Ukrainian cities, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly signaled he is not prepared to approve such deliveries.

Moscow has warned Washington against sending Tomahawks, with Putin calling the move a "completely new stage of escalation" in US-Russia relations.

Russia's Defense Ministry on November 8 said it had launched "a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, ground and sea-based weapons" on weapon production and energy facilities in response to Ukraine's strikes inside Russia.

The Kremlin denies it targets civilian sites despite widespread evidence of such attacks.

Pressure Heightens Around Pokrovsk

As Ukraine battled with the latest attacks on its energy sector, its forces were also struggling to hold ground in and around the strategic Donetsk city of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged that the situation in the region is "difficult" but have denied Russian claims that Pokrovsk is surrounded.

Pokrovsk has become the fiercest area on Ukraine's front line this year, with fighting there resembling some of the bloodiest and longest battles of the war.

Andriy Hnatov, Ukraine's chief of general staff of the armed forces, said Russian forces have infiltrated the southern outskirts of the city in an attempt to establish a foothold for further advances.

Zelenskyy put the number of Russian troops hidden inside the city at some 314

Most of the prewar population of 60,000 have fled the city, which now lies largely in ruins.

Some military analysts expressed doubt that Russia would be able to quickly capture the area and move on to neighboring cities.

Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Hetman told RFE/RL that while the situation is growing difficult, Ukrainian forces still have strongholds prepared west of the city, which would allow them to repel further Russian assaults.

Journalists' Van Hit By Drone

Separately, Western reporters said a van carrying an Austrian and a Spanish journalist was attacked by a drone near the frontline in eastern Ukraine on November 8.

"A drone caught us, but luckily everyone is fine," said Christian Wehrschuetz, a correspondent for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF).

ORG said the incident took place in Ukraine's Donetsk region and that there were no injuries. The journalists were traveling with the Proliska Ukrainian aid organization to the city of Kostyantynivka.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Reuters, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskyy-ukraine- energy-infrastructure-attacks-russia/33584953.html

Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.