Russia struck Ukraine overnight with ballistic and cruise missiles as well as hundreds of drones, killing civilians and damaging residential buildings, Ukrainian authorities said on October 17.
The attacks also disrupted power supply in several regions, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the barrage "one of [Russia's] largest attacks on Ukraine's energy sector," adding that more than 15 "critical power generation and transmission facilities" were targeted across the country.
Writing on X on October 17, he said that the worst-hit areas included Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsya, Shepetivka, Slavuta, and Netishyn, and that "energy facilities in the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Dnipro, and other regions were also hit."
"The Russians have scaled up their anti-energy operation and are trying to stretch our reserves and repair capabilities as thin as possible," Zelenskyy wrote. "Between 7 p.m. yesterday and 7 a.m. today alone, more than 320 jet-powered and gasoline-powered 'shaheds,' along with loitering munitions, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, were used against our energy sector, our cities, and our communities."
Russia launched four Kalibr cruise missiles and 332 attack drones, including 31 jet-powered drones, as well as Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles and Kh-22/32 cruise missiles, according to Ukraine's air force.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 293 aerial targets, including all four Kalibr missiles and 289 drones, the air force said. Impacts were recorded at 22 locations, while debris from intercepted targets fell at three others.
In the southern city of Kherson, a Russian air strike on the Korabelniy district killed a 64-year-old emergency medical services driver, regional military administration head Yaroslav Shanko said.
In Slovyansk, in the eastern Donetsk region, Russian forces struck a residential neighborhood with FAB-250 aerial bombs in the early hours of the morning, hitting two apartment buildings, according to local authorities.
One person was killed and 10 others were wounded in the attack, four of whom were hospitalized. Search-and-rescue operations were under way, with people potentially trapped beneath the rubble of both buildings.
Eight apartment buildings were damaged, two of them partially destroyed. A total of 16 people were wounded in Slovyansk over the past 24 hours, including a 17-year-old girl. Vehicles and municipal equipment were also damaged.
The strikes also placed further strain on Ukraine's electricity system. National grid operator Ukrenergo announced emergency power cuts in several regions, saying previously published outage schedules would not apply in areas affected by the measures.
Energy workers were working to restore supplies, and authorities urged consumers who still had electricity to use it sparingly.
In Vinnytsya, the regional capital in central Ukraine, Russian attacks left the city without electricity, Mayor Serhiy Morhunov said. Officials were assessing the extent of the damage, while critical infrastructure switched to backup power.
The latest barrage came as US President Donald Trump announced that he had waived nearly all substantive sanctions, tariffs, and restrictions included in a bipartisan law aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war against Ukraine, prompting sharp criticism from Ukraine advocates and lawmakers from both parties who say the move undermines efforts to force Moscow to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's General Staff said on October 17 that Ukrainian forces remained in control of the eastern town of Dobropillia, rejecting a claim by Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier that Russian forces had captured the town.
Kyiv also disputed Moscow's claim that Russian forces had seized more than 1,800 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory and 92 settlements since September 1, Reuters reported.
