Ukrainian HIMARS reportedly strike thermal power plant in Russia's Belgorod Oblast
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukrainian HIMARS rockets reportedly stuck a thermal power plant near the Russian city of Belgorod on Sept. 28, Russian Telegram media channels reported.
Power outages were reported across Belgorod Oblast following the attack that struck one of the substations, Russian media reported.
Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed a strike on critical infrastructure as well as "significant power outages."
No information on the extent of the damage was available.
High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), with a range of around 70 kilometers, allow Ukraine to target Russian forces on the other side of the front line far more accurately than they had previously.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Sept. 17 that Ukraine will receive Patriot HIMARS missiles as part of a U.S. weapons aid package financed by NATO allies.
The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify details or weapons used in the attack. Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the strike.
The attack comes as Kyiv has intensified attacks against Russian oil, gas, and energy infrastructure, a key source of Moscow's revenues helping to fuel its all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Situated across the border from Kharkiv Oblast, Belgorod serves as a regular target of Ukrainian strikes.
Kyiv's strikes on Russia's oil sector have severely disrupted fuel supplies and logistics for Moscow's armed forces, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Sept. 25.
According to the Financial Times, 16 of Russia's 38 oil refineries have been struck by Ukrainian drones since August 2025. The disruptions have limited Russia's refining capacity by over 1 million barrels per day, the research group Energy Aspects told FT, dropping exports to below pre-war levels.
