Russia Strikes Ukraine Overnight: At Least 3 Dead, 15 Injured as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia Hit

At least three people were killed and more than fifteen injured as Russia carried out a large-scale overnight aerial assault on Ukraine, striking multiple cities including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and the port of Izmail. The attack, which began shortly after 1 a.m. on October 22, triggered widespread explosions and air raid alerts across the country, lasting into the early morning hours.

In Kyiv, residents were jolted awake by several rounds of explosions. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that air defense systems were active across the capital, reporting “multiple fires and damaged buildings” as emergency services rushed to affected areas. Initially, two deaths and five injuries were reported, including a two-year-old child, but the toll was later updated to three fatalities, according to regional governor Mykola Kalashnik.

Fires erupted in several districts of the capital. In the Dniprovskyi area, a high-rise apartment building caught fire on its upper floors following a drone strike. “The blaze was contained after rescuers evacuated ten people,” Klitschko said. Additional fires broke out in the Darnytskyi and Pecherskyi districts, where debris struck residential and student buildings, and damaged a medical facility. In the Solomianskyi district, falling fragments set garages ablaze.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, announced emergency power outages in Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast following what it described as “significant damage” to the power grid. Odesa Oblast was also affected, with parts of the region suffering blackouts after infrastructure was hit. Ukrenergo, the state grid operator, confirmed that the outages were ordered as a precaution due to extensive damage to energy sites.

In Zaporizhzhia, at least fifteen civilians were injured when an apartment block was struck overnight, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported. In Odesa and the port city of Izmail, drone strikes caused power failures and further disrupted the already strained energy supply in southern Ukraine.

The latest wave of Russian attacks continues Moscow’s renewed campaign targeting Ukraine’s energy sector ahead of the winter season. Earlier this month, a missile strike on Kyiv damaged a major thermal power plant, resulting in citywide blackouts. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned over the weekend that Russia is escalating its attacks on energy facilities “as pressure on the Kremlin declines” and Western aid remains uncertain.

The overnight barrage also came shortly after Ukraine launched a long-range strike on Russia’s Bryansk Chemical Plant, which produces components for missile fuel and gunpowder. The strike, reportedly carried out using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, marked one of Ukraine’s most extensive cross-border attacks in weeks.

Zelensky has repeatedly said that targeting Russian military and energy infrastructure is essential to forcing Moscow to negotiate. “Long-range sanctions,” as he calls them, are Ukraine’s way of pressuring the Kremlin when diplomacy stalls. The president continues to urge Western partners to supply long-range missiles such as the U.S. Tomahawks, which remain under discussion in Washington.

European leaders issued a joint statement with Zelensky on Tuesday, reiterating that peace talks should begin only after a freeze in hostilities along the current front line. Moscow, however, rejected the proposal, insisting that Ukraine must withdraw from the occupied regions and accept what Russia calls the “root causes” of the war. Demands that Kyiv and its allies see as unacceptable.

As of early morning, emergency crews across Kyiv continued search and rescue efforts at multiple sites, working through smoldering debris and destroyed buildings. “Medics are on the ground, fires are being extinguished, and people are being pulled from under the rubble,” Klitschko said. “It has been another long and difficult night for our city.”