Russia unleashed a "massive" attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure on November 28, leaving more than 1 million people without power in freezing temperatures across the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of a "despicable escalation," as the Interior Ministry recorded damage to infrastructure in nine regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the latest attack was Moscow's "response" to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.S. medium-range ATACMS missiles.
Speaking during a trip to Kazakhstan, Putin warned that Russia's future targets could include "decision-making centers" in Kyiv.
Putin said Russia launched more than 90 missiles and 100 drones in the "comprehensive strike" on November 28 and that 17 targets had been hit -- the type of detail that the president rarely gives.
Ukraine's air force said it had shot down 79 missiles and 35 drones, while 62 drones were "lost," meaning they had likely been disrupted by electronic warfare.
All missiles or drones aimed at the capital, Kyiv were downed, officials said.
The attack forced national power-grid operator Ukrenerho to "urgently introduce emergency power cuts," Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said early on November 28.
"Once again, the energy sector is under massive enemy attack. Attacks on energy facilities are taking place across Ukraine," Halushchenko wrote on social media.
Energy provider DTEK said early in the day that emergency power outages were being introduced in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk.
Kyiv had also reportedly disconnected several nuclear power units from the network during the attack. Ukraine gets more than half of its electricity from nuclear plants.
It comes as the temperatures across Ukraine dropped to around zero degrees Celsius.
Earlier this month, a senior UN official, Rosemary DiCarlo, warned that Moscow's targeting of Ukraine's energy infrastructure may make this winter the "harshest since the start of the war" nearly three years ago.
