Energy — 2026-11-13

Russia Intensifies Power Grid Attacks Before Winter With 115 Missiles and 3,000 Drones in One Week

BLUFRussia's systematic re-striking of substations before repairs finish is collapsing regional power supply ahead of winter, and Ukraine's Air Force will likely report a single overnight combined drone and missile attack exceeding 400 munitions by November 30.

President Zelensky stated in a Facebook post that Russia fired 115 missiles, nearly 1,900 guided aerial bombs and over 3,000 attack drones at Ukraine in the past week, with many of the missiles produced this year 1234. Zelensky stated an overnight strike on energy infrastructure left more than 600,000 people in Dnipro and the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk region without power, and 140 apartment buildings in Zhytomyr region lost heating 13. UA.News reported that a Russian drone strike on a critical infrastructure facility in Kharkiv region on the night of November 8 cut power to about 250,000 customers 3. Euromaidan Press, citing Ukrenergo, reported that repeat strikes with jet drones and ballistic missiles are destroying substation equipment before crews finish repairs, and that one strike left a house-sized crater 5.

Analysis
Russia is coupling mass ballistic-missile salvos with repeated strikes on the same substations, so Ukrenergo's crews lose repaired equipment before it returns to service. Outages across Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zhytomyr show damage moving from local distribution to regional supply, and lost heating in apartment blocks will intensify civilian hardship as cold sets in. Confidence is high, based on consistent weekly volumes across five outlets and a recent record of very large raids, though four outlets relay one Zelensky statement, so the totals rest on a single unverified official source. Ukraine's Air Force will likely report a single overnight Russian attack of 400 or more drones and missiles combined between November 14 and November 30, 2026. Since September, when restoration of power to over 900,000 homes was the story, one night's strikes have cut power to more than 600,000 people in one region. The totals may serve Kyiv's lobbying for air defense and sanctions as much as they describe a new campaign. If a 400-plus raid arrives, planners must shift interceptors and repair stocks to the hardest-hit oblasts and back the 22nd sanctions package sooner.

5 sources