Ukrainian strikes disrupt power and heating to 2 major cities in Russia
[November 10, 2025]
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian strikes disrupted power and heating to
two major Russian cities near the Ukrainian border, local Russian
officials reported Sunday.
The report comes as Russia and Ukraine have traded almost daily assaults
on each other’s energy infrastructure and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to
stop the nearly four-year war have not advanced.
Elsewhere, Ukraine's top diplomat accused Moscow of deliberately
endangering nuclear safety, as he said Russia’s mass drone and missile
attack on Friday struck substations that power two nuclear power plants.
And in Russia, the Kremlin spokesman said Moscow intended to honor its
obligations under a global nuclear test ban, despite a recent order by
President Vladimir Putin to study the possibility of resuming atomic
tests.
Power knocked out in two Russian cities
A drone strike temporarily caused blackouts and cut heating to parts of
Voronezh, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said. He said several drones
were electronically jammed during the night over the city, home to just
over 1 million people, sparking a fire at a local utility facility that
was quickly extinguished.
Russian and Ukrainian news channels on Telegram claimed the strike
targeted a local thermal power plant.
A missile strike late on Saturday also caused “serious damage” to power
and heating systems supplying the city of Belgorod, with some 20,000
households affected, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported the
following morning.
Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday that its forces destroyed or
intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones during the night that flew over the
Bryansk and Rostov regions in southwestern Russia. The statement made no
mention of either the Voronezh or Belgorod provinces, nor did it specify
how many drones Ukraine launched.
Local authorities in the Rostov region on Sunday reported on hourslong
blackouts in the city of Taganrog, home to some 240,000 people, blaming
them on an emergency shutdown of a power line. They did not specify the
cause, though local media claimed a nearby transformer substation caught
fire.
Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have
aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the
war. Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to
cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat,
light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what
Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the biting cold.
Strikes endanger power supply to nuclear plants
Russia's mass drone and missile strikes Friday hit power substations
that supply two of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, according to
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
“Russia once again targeted substations that power the Khmelnytskyi and
Rivne nuclear power plants,” Sybiha said in a statement on X late
Saturday. “These were not accidental but well-planned strikes. Russia is
deliberately endangering nuclear safety in Europe.”
Sybiha called for an urgent meeting of the International Atomic Energy
Agency board of governors to respond to the risks posed by the attacks.
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In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry
Press Service on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, Russian army soldiers fire to
shoot a Ukrainian drone on an undisclosed location in Ukraine.
(Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Moscow’s massive attacks on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure last
winter have heightened scrutiny over the Ukrainian Energy Ministry’s
apparent failure to protect the country’s most critical energy
facilities near nuclear power sites, according to several current and
former officials who spoke to the AP.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday that
work has begun on President Vladimir Putin’s order to prepare plans for
a possible Russian nuclear test, according to state news agency Tass.
Putin’s order on Wednesday followed statements by Trump, which appeared
to suggest that Washington would restart its own atomic tests for the
first time in three decades.
Kremlin says Russia will abide by nuclear ban
Russia will abide by its obligations under a global nuclear ban, the
Kremlin spokesman said Sunday, following days of uncertainty over
remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump that appeared to suggest
Washington might restart atomic tests after more than three decades.
Trump's comments came after Russia announced it had tested a new
atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone and a new
nuclear-powered cruise missile. But Moscow did not announce any tests of
its nuclear weapons, which last occurred in 1990.
“Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is committed to its obligation to
end nuclear tests, and that we have no intention” of conducting them,
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Earlier this week, Putin ordered officials to study the possibility of
resuming nuclear testing, though Russia said it would not do so unless
the U.S. did so first.
Russia's Lavrov says he's ready to meet Rubio
Elsewhere, Russia’s top diplomat said Sunday that he was ready to meet
U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to discuss the war in Ukraine and
mending bilateral ties.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and I understand the need for regular
communication,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russia’s Ria state
agency, weeks after efforts to organise a summit between the Russian and
U.S. leaders were put on ice.
Lavrov on Sunday repeated that peace can’t be achieved without “taking
Russian interests into account," a phrase Moscow has used to signal it
is standing firm in its maximalist demands for Ukraine.
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