Russian barrage causes blackouts in Ukraine as Zelenskyy seeks Trump's
help
[October 16, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia battered Ukraine’s energy facilities with
hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in its latest heavy
bombardment of the country’s power grid, authorities said Thursday, as
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to ask President Donald
Trump at a White House meeting for more American-made air defenses and
long-range missiles.
Eight Ukrainian regions experienced blackouts after the barrage,
Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, said. DTEK, the country’s
largest private energy company, reported outages in the capital, Kyiv,
and said it had to stop its natural gas extraction in the central
Poltava region due to the strikes.
Zelenskyy said Russia fired more than 300 drones and 37 missiles at
Ukraine overnight. He accused Russia of using cluster munitions and
conducting repeated strikes on the same target to hit emergency crews
and engineers working to repair the grid.
“This fall, the Russians are using every single day to strike our energy
infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian power grid been one of Russia’s main targets since its
invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago. Attacks increase as
the bitterly cold months approach in a Russian strategy that Ukrainian
officials call “weaponizing winter.” Russia says it aims only at targets
of military value.
Ukrainian forces have resisted Russia’s bigger and better equipped army,
limiting it to a grinding war of attrition along the roughly
1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and
southern regions.
But Ukraine, which is almost the size of Texas, is hard to defend from
the air in its entirety, and Kyiv officials are seeking more Western
help to fend against aerial attacks and strike back at Russia.
Zelenskyy was expected to arrive in the United States on Thursday, ahead
of his Oval Office meeting with Trump on Friday.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, a residential building is seen on fire
after a Russian strike in Nizhyn, Chernihiv region, Ukraine.
(Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Ukraine is seeking cruise missiles, air defense systems and joint
drone production agreements from the United States, Kyiv officials
say. Zelenskyy also wants tougher international economic sanctions
on Moscow.
The visit comes amid signs that Trump is leaning toward steping up
pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock
in U.S.-led peace efforts.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday in Brussels that
if Russia won’t budge from its objections and refuses to negotiate a
peace deal, Washington “will take the steps necessary to impose
costs on Russia for its continued aggression.”
Also, Trump said Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian
oil. That would deny Moscow income it needs to keep fighting in
Ukraine.
Washington has hesitated over providing Ukraine with long-range
missiles, such as Tomahawks, out of concern that such a step could
escalate the war and deepen tensions between the United States and
Russia.
But Trump has been frustrated by his inability to force an end to
the war in Ukraine and has expressed impatience with Putin, whom he
increasingly describes as the primary obstacle to a resolution.
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