Russian missiles and drones struck energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv overnight into Wednesday, while NATO aircraft went airborne over Poland and Romania as the Alliance watched for spillover along its eastern flank. Ukrainian officials framed the assault as among the largest recent strikes on the capital region's power system ahead of the heating season, less than a week after the previous large-scale ballistic attack on Kyiv.

Missiles and drones target Kyiv energy

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 188 drones — 86 of them jet-powered — along with ballistic and anti-ship missiles in an assault focused on the capital region. The command identified Shahed, Gerbera, and Parodiya drones among the wave, alongside weapons it listed as Zircon and Onyx anti-ship missiles and Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles. Ukrainian air defenses reported destroying or neutralizing five missiles and 155 drones, with impacts recorded at 18 locations.

Gerbera and Parodiya systems are decoy airframes meant to exhaust air defenses, a factor that bears on the high interception tally. Air defenses engaged the inbound weapons overnight with aviation, surface-to-air systems, electronic warfare, and mobile fire groups, the Air Force said. Several drones remained aloft into the morning.

Satellite monitoring detected fire hotspots near Kyiv's CHPP-5 combined heat and power plant after the overnight wave. Kyiv spent much of the night under air-raid alerts, and emergency crews reported multiple fires. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said dense fog hung over the capital Wednesday morning from smoke and soot held near the ground by a high-pressure system.

Power grid damage and civilian toll

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the overnight attack was intense and aimed principally at energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

"It was a difficult attack — nearly 190 attack drones, as well as ballistic missiles. And the main target was energy infrastructure in the capital and the Kyiv region," Zelenskyy wrote.

DTEK, a major private Ukrainian energy company, said energy infrastructure had been damaged but did not detail which facilities were hit, offering only that crews had restored electricity to about 8,000 households. Zelenskyy said critical infrastructure was also struck in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, and Rivne regions.

In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least three people were killed and six others injured. He also said debris had been found at a Western country's embassy in central Kyiv; emergency services were sent to the site, and he did not name the mission. Outside the capital, Kyiv Oblast Governor Tymur Tkachenko said a child was found dead under the rubble of a destroyed private house in Vyshhorod, where a man and a woman were also hurt. Zelenskyy put the nationwide toll at five killed, including a child, and 14 injured, covering strikes reported across multiple regions. Officials cautioned that counts were still being updated Wednesday as rescue work continued.

Ukrainian authorities also reported damage to homes, businesses, warehouses, and vehicles in the capital. In the Solomianskyi district, a Kyivteploenergo utility driver was among those killed when a strike hit a warehouse where specialists had been working, city officials said.

Zelenskyy thanked foreign partners for recent air-defense commitments. "Every interceptor missile truly saves lives," he wrote. "We must do everything to ensure that Russia's strategy of ballistic and drone terror fails."

NATO aviation active in Poland and Romania

Poland's Armed Forces Operational Command said military aviation was operating in Polish airspace Wednesday morning in response to Russian strikes on Ukraine. The command described the measures as preventive and said ground-based air defenses and radar reconnaissance had been brought to readiness near the fighting.

Poland's Air Traffic Authority said airports in Lublin and Rzeszów temporarily suspended flight operations to give military aircraft freedom of action, then later confirmed commercial flights had resumed. Poland's Government Security Center issued alerts for residents in the Lublin and Podkarpackie regions. Polish authorities did not report an incursion into national airspace.

In Romania, the Defense Ministry said radar detected an aerial target maneuvering east of Izmail, on Ukrainian territory near the river border. Two Spanish F-18 jets, deployed under NATO's enhanced air policing mission, were scrambled to monitor the situation. Romanian authorities issued a RO-Alert message for northern Tulcea County. "No incursions into national airspace were detected," the ministry said. The air alert was later lifted.

Moldova reported that a drone entered its airspace and exploded near the village of Hîrbovăț in Anenii Noi district. Moldovan police said the aircraft was spotted near Bender early Wednesday, then fell and exploded, damaging a civilian communications antenna; preliminary reports indicated no casualties. Moldova's defense agency said monitoring systems registered the drone at about 5:43 a.m. local time.

Moscow claims hits as Kyiv warns of winter escalation

Russia's Defense Ministry said its overnight operation struck what it described as a communications center in Kyiv, energy infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region that it said support military production, and infrastructure at the port of Izmail. Moscow also said its forces had shot down at least 384 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskiy wrote that the attack marked a shift. "Russia has moved to massive strikes on energy infrastructure. Starting from summer, there has practically not been a day when the enemy did not attack energy infrastructure. But such a massive and combined attack has occurred for the first time since the end of the last heating season."