Massive’ Russian attack on Kyiv sparks widespread blackout and infrastructure damage

Ukraine’s capital was plunged into darkness on Friday, October 10, 2025, after a large overnight barrage of missiles and drones struck Kyiv and multiple regions, hammering energy infrastructure, damaging residential buildings, and disrupting transport and water supply.

Authorities reported at least 20 people injured in the capital and a child killed in the southeast, while emergency services battled fires in a high-rise and other structures hit by debris from intercepted projectiles.

The government said the strike was among the heaviest against the power grid to date, knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands of people across at least nine regions and briefly halting a key metro crossing of the Dnipro River; water pressure fell in parts of the city as pumping stations lost power.

Air defenses downed many incoming targets, but officials warned that salvo size and repeated waves strained interception rates and caused significant damage to thermal plants and substations on the eve of winter. By late afternoon, repair crews had begun restoring service to parts of Kyiv, with officials cautioning that rolling outages could persist as the grid stabilizes.

Kyiv’s leadership condemned the assault as a deliberate campaign to degrade civilian infrastructure and urged allies to accelerate deliveries of air-defense systems and critical grid components, while Russia framed the strikes as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on targets inside its territory.

Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; The Guardian; CBS News.