Ukraine`s energy infrastructure severely damaged after a massive Russian drone-missile attack

Russia launched one of its largest overnight missile-and-drone barrages on December 6, striking energy sites across Ukraine and temporarily cutting power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired 63 Shahed-type drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 17 ballistic missiles, with 60 impacts recorded in 29 locations. The attacks hit substations, power generation sites, and transmission lines.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes once again targeted energy infrastructure and were intended to inflict maximum hardship on civilians, noting that the attacks came on St. Nicholas Day.

Explosions were reported in Poltava, Lutsk, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Bila Tserkva. The Energy Ministry said damage was recorded at generation, distribution, and transmission facilities in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv oblasts.

In Chernihiv Oblast, drones hit both critical infrastructure and a residential area.

Vitaliy Zaichenko, head of the state grid operator Ukrenergo, described the assault as “quite severe” for the national power system. Strikes hit multiple substations and generation facilities and knocked out one of two lines feeding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the plant briefly lost all off-site power for the 11th time since the full-scale invasion.

Thermal plants owned by DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, were also hit, marking the sixth major attack on the firm’s infrastructure since October.

By morning, outages were reported in Odesa, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions, with rolling blackout schedules activated nationwide.

Officials reported at least eight civilians injured. In Kyiv Oblast, a man was wounded in Fastiv, where a strike also hit the city’s main railway station. Zelensky called the attack on the station “militarily senseless.” Additional injuries were reported in the Vyshhorod district.

Fires were reported in warehouses and residential areas in Kyiv Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Lutsk, Dnipro, and Bila Tserkva. An 11-year-old boy was hurt in Nikopol.

Poland said it scrambled fighter jets as the hours-long attack approached the country’s border.

Ukraine has faced repeated bombardment of its power grid as fighting continues and international negotiations to end the war remain stalled. The previous mass attack on Kyiv on Nov. 13–14 killed seven people and injured 29.

Russian strike hit a warehouse of the major Ukrainian pharmaceutical distributor

Russian forces have struck a medicines warehouse operated by BaDM, one of Ukraine’s largest pharmaceutical distributors, marking the latest in a series of attacks on the country’s medical supply chain.

BaDM reported that the strike hit one of its southern logistics hubs, though the extent of the damage and the number of casualties were still being assessed. The company notes on its website that it operates more than 60,000 square meters of warehouse space.

The attack follows multiple strikes on facilities belonging to Optima-Pharm, Ukraine’s other major pharmaceutical distributor. On Nov. 15, Russian forces destroyed Optima-Pharm’s warehouse in Dnipro. Although the building was leveled, no employees were injured.

Just weeks earlier, during an overnight attack on Oct. 24–25, Russian missiles destroyed an Optima-Pharm warehouse and office complex in Kyiv, causing more than $100 million in damage and wiping out roughly 20% of the country’s monthly medicine reserves. Another Optima-Pharm warehouse in Kyiv was damaged in an Aug. 28 missile attack.

BaDM facilities were also targeted early in the full-scale invasion, when Russian strikes destroyed logistics centers in Kyiv and Poltava oblasts.

The repeated attacks have raised concerns about Ukraine’s ability to maintain stable supplies of critical medications as Russia continues to target non-military infrastructure.

Over 60% of Americans want Ukraine to win the war against Russia

More than 60% of Americans support providing U.S. weapons to Ukraine and want Kyiv to prevail in its war against Russia, according to a new poll from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute.

This year’s survey shows record-high support for aiding Ukraine’s defense, growing confidence in NATO, and strong bipartisan agreement that the U.S. must maintain the world’s most powerful military.

According to the poll, 64% of Americans believe the U.S. should take a more active, leading role in global affairs — a view held by 79% of MAGA Republicans and 57% of Democrats.

Overall, 62% said Ukraine should win the war, while 64% back sending U.S. weapons to Kyiv, a nine-point increase from last year. Support includes 59% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats.

Approval of NATO has also gone up to a record 68%, with broad bipartisan backing for the alliance’s Article 5 mutual-defense clause.

The survey found that 87% of respondents think the U.S. should possess the world’s strongest military, and 71% believe global peace is more likely when America holds that position.