Russia Launches 317 Drones at Ukraine's Grid; Three Killed in Strike on Odesa

Russia carried out another large-scale air attack on Ukraine overnight on Nov. 9, once again focusing on the energy system. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 317 attack drones, 105 of them jet-powered, along with Banderol cruise missiles. Energy facilities were hit in several regions, three people were killed in Odesa, and by evening First Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal described the power situation in Kyiv and Dnipro as particularly difficult.

The scale of the attack

By the morning, according to the air force, air defences had neutralised more than 270 drones; figures cited by The Kyiv Independent put the number at 276, including 81 jet-powered drones, plus five Banderol missiles. Drone impacts were recorded at 31 locations and falling debris at nine.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck four electrical substations in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions, The Associated Press reported. AP described the strikes as part of a campaign to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water ahead of winter.

Damage across the regions

The strikes hit both infrastructure and residential areas. According to regional authorities, as compiled by The Kyiv Independent and Ukrinform:

• Kyiv region: Governor Tymur Tkachenko reported a mass attack on energy infrastructure and homes. Two energy facilities were damaged in the Bucha and Obukhiv districts, and three other districts were struck. Ukrinform reported that a woman was killed in the Vyshhorod district.
• Odesa: Serhii Lysak, head of the city military administration, said three people were killed in an attack on an infrastructure facility and one person was seriously injured. AP, citing local officials, said a warehouse storing food for kindergartens and schools was hit.
• Kyiv city: Ukrinform reported that drone debris fell near a school in the Desnianskyi district and that fires caused by the attack were put out.
• Poltava region: seven people were injured when a residential area in Kremenchuk was hit, according to Ukrinform.
• Kharkiv region: Governor Oleh Syniehubov said eight people were injured in Izium, Kharkiv and Balakliia.
• Donetsk, Kherson, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions: local officials reported injuries, including a child among six people hurt in the Zaporizhzhia region.
• Mykolaiv, Odesa and Rivne regions: energy and civilian infrastructure came under attack, with no casualties reported.

In total, The Kyiv Independent counted at least 28 people injured across Ukraine over the previous day, based on regional authorities' reports. The figures may still change.

What energy officials say

After a crisis meeting, Shmyhal wrote on Telegram that the electricity situation remained especially hard in Kyiv and Dnipro. Russian strikes had also cut power to parts of Dnipro, Kamianske and Kropyvnytskyi. Repair crews are working around the clock with extra teams brought in, he said, but how long restoration takes depends on the intensity of Russian attacks.

Shmyhal said that this autumn Russia had moved to a comprehensive strategy aimed at destroying Ukraine's power system, relying heavily on jet-powered drones that use mesh networks and artificial intelligence to improve accuracy. He listed substations, switchgear, transmission lines, thermal and hydroelectric plants, combined heat and power plants and oil and gas facilities among the main targets. In response, the government is building distributed generation, which he said would reduce dependence on individual large power plants.

Why it matters

This was the second large overnight attack on the grid in a row. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia also launched 164 drones and three cruise missiles overnight into Nov. 8, causing widespread outages. With winter approaching, each new strike sets back repair work and adds strain to an already fragile network.

The attacks come on the eve of a new round of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, while Ukraine continues its own long-range strikes on Russian refineries and defence plants. For residents of Kyiv, Dnipro and other cities, the practical result is the same: scheduled blackouts and the need for backup power while engineers repair damaged equipment.