Zelensky Says Russia Targeted Kyiv With 36 Ballistic Missiles in Energy Attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 7 that Russia had launched 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles in a combined overnight attack on Ukraine. He said all the ballistic missiles targeted Kyiv and the surrounding region, where damage to energy infrastructure disrupted electricity, water and heating supplies. Nine people were injured, including one child, according to his assessment. “Energy infrastructure was again the main target,” Zelensky said. He reported damage to substations in the Kyiv region that connect the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants with the capital and central Ukraine. His account described damage to those connections, rather than to the nuclear plants themselves. Substations were also damaged in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Zelensky said twelve regions in addition to Kyiv came under attack. Residential buildings and the Northern Bridge were damaged, and a kindergarten was partially destroyed. He said repair and rescue operations were continuing wherever security conditions allowed. He appealed for greater American support, attention from Congress and bipartisan unity, alongside additional sanctions pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The assessment followed Zelensky’s November 6 warning that intelligence indicated preparations for another Russian strike against energy infrastructure, bridges across the Dnipro and civilian infrastructure. In that earlier statement, he called for Patriot interceptors and urged partners to avoid delays in deliveries. His November 7 account gave no timetable for restoring the disrupted supplies.