Russia pounds Kyiv's power grid in first mass attack since last fall, killing 4, injuring 8 in day-long assault

Key developments:

• Russia launched its first sustained mass assault on Ukraine's energy facilities since last year's heating season, attacking Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight and throughout the day on Sept. 30
• The attack killed three people and injured seven others in Kyiv. In the surrounding region, attacks killed one child and injured a woman.
• Russia struck a key thermal power plant in Kyiv and other facilities, causing emergency blackouts for thousands of people.
• Kyiv endured over 20 hours under aerial alert, one of the longest of the entire war.

Russia struck Kyiv's energy infrastructure overnight and throughout the day on Sept. 30 in a renewed push against Ukraine's power system as fall sets in — an assault Ukrainians have feared since last winter's devastating attacks on the power grid.

Air raid sirens blared over Kyiv for over 20 hours, one of the longest sustained attacks the capital has faced since the start of the full-scale war. Thick smoke enveloped the city as a result of Russia's relentless assault.

"Since the summer, there has been practically no day when the enemy has not attacked energy infrastructure. But such a massive and combined attack has occurred for the first time since the end of the last heating season," Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said.

Ukraine's biggest private energy firm, DTEK, said that Russia's overnight attack damaged energy infrastructure, triggering blackouts. They restored energy to 8,000 customers on Kyiv's left bank, and emergency crews continue to operate, DTEK added.

State-owned grid operator Ukrenergo also said there were power outages in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, as well as other regions, and advised residents to postpone using high-power electrical appliances.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the capital's energy infrastructure was the main target of the Russian attacks.

"Each interceptor missile really saves lives. And the closer to winter, the more such protection is needed. We must do everything to ensure that Russia's bet on ballistic and drone terror does not play out," he said.

Emergency power cuts return to the capital

Russia's attack damaged the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant in Kyiv Oblast, state-owned power producer Centrenergo confirmed on Sept. 30. The company said generating equipment at the plant had been damaged but did not disclose further details, citing security concerns.

"Our first priority now is to assess the condition of the equipment and determine the scope of the necessary work," Centrenergo CEO Serhii Isachenko said. "As soon as the security situation allows, our specialists will begin repairs."

At 5:40 p.m. local time, Ukrenergo announced emergency power shutdowns in Kyiv.

Emergency power cuts also disrupted public transport in Kyiv, with electric ground transport suspended in the Shevchenkivskyi and Holosiivskyi districts due to power outages, the Kyiv City State Administration said. Tram services were also suspended.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that two women were killed in the Sviatoshynskyi district of Kyiv, where a dozen homes were damaged amid the attack.

Another person was killed in the Solomianskyi district after a warehouse was damaged in the Russian attack, the Kyiv City Military Administration (KMDA) said.

The National Police in Kyiv said that seven people were injured in the overnight attacks on the capital.

Over a dozen explosions rocked the city shortly before 3 a.m. local time, journalists on the ground said. The explosions came minutes after Ukraine's Air Force warned ballistic missiles were headed towards the city, as sounds of air defense fire were heard throughout the city. Additional explosions were later heard around 3:40 a.m. local time.

An unspecified "non-residential building" and a warehouse caught fire in the Podilskyi district, officials said.

In the Shevchenkivskyi district, debris fell onto the territory of an unspecified western embassy, Klitschko said.

Ukrainian lawmaker Volodymyr Ariev said on Facebook that one of the Russian drones crashed onto a children's playground in the Obolonskyi district during the daytime attack. The drone did not explode, he added.

The State Emergency Service (DSNS) warned Kyiv residents to keep their windows closed due to the thick smoke in the air following the Russian attacks.

Later in the evening of Sept. 30, more waves of drone caused additional damage, including fires at a warehouses and a cafe.  

Just outside the capital in Kyiv Oblast, at least one child was found dead under the rubble of a home in Vyshhorod, while a man and a woman were also injured in the attack.

A total of 11 vehicles, two warehouses, and three homes were damaged in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, Kyiv Oblast Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.

Following further strikes in the afternoon and evening, Tkachenko reported that another woman had been injured and that additional homes, houses, industrial buildings, and vehicles had been damaged in the region's Bucha, Obukhiv, Bila Tserkva, Fastiv, and Boryspil districts.

An educational institution in Bila Tserkva was also damaged by Russian attacks, he said.

A day and night of drone strikes

The latest strikes came as Russia intensifies its attacks on Kyiv since August, relentlessly launching drone attacks, even in daytime, to exhaust the Ukrainian air defense. Recently, Russia has shifted tactics to target the Ukrainian capital with days-long consecutive attacks.

Kyiv was under an air raid alert for 20 hours and 44 minutes on Sept. 30 — likely a wartime record.

Ukraine's Air Force said that between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. local time, Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 254 of 285 drones. Russian forces launched 174 jet-powered drones, 146 of which were intercepted by Ukrainian forces.

Russia attacked regions across Ukraine with 188 drones, 86 of them jet-powered, as well as with Zircon, Onyx, and Iskander missiles, according to Ukraine's Air Force. The military said it shot down or suppressed 5 missiles and 155 drones.

As of around 6:30 p.m., 10 drones remained in Ukrainian airspace, the Air Force said.

At around 9:30 p.m. local time, authorities again warned that Russian drones were targeting the capital and the surrounding region.