Russian missiles hit Ukrainian cities in a massive morning attack targeting energy infrastructure

Russia carried out a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine in the early hours of October 16, targeting multiple regions and key elements of the country’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia launched more than 300 attack drones and 37 missiles, a significant number of them ballistic, against Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X. “This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure.”

According to Zelensky, strikes hit the Poltava, Kharkiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, and Chernihiv regions.

The assault began around 5:20 a.m. when MiG-31 bombers took off from several Russian airfields. Soon after, explosions were reported in Kharkiv and Izium (Kharkiv Oblast), Kropyvnytskyi (Kirovohrad Oblast), and Poltava, according to Suspilne.

Later waves targeted Chernihiv and again struck Kharkiv. Chernihiv Oblast Governor Dmytro Bryzhynskyi said an enterprise in the city had been hit, while regional head Vyacheslav Chaus reported that a drone attack on a residential building in Nizhyn injured two people.

In Kharkiv Oblast, four people were injured during strikes on energy infrastructure. Energy company DTEK confirmed that a natural gas facility in Poltava Oblast was hit, and emergency blackouts were introduced in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

The Ukrainian military later reported that two ballistic missiles struck a Ground Forces training ground, causing unspecified casualties.

Information on further damage and casualties continues to emerge.

North Korean troops are helping to direct Russian strikes into Ukraine

North Korean soldiers are now assisting Russia in directing attacks on Ukraine, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on October 16.

In a statement on social media accompanied by a video, the General Staff said the footage shows North Korean soldiers operating in Russia’s Kursk Oblast and guiding strikes into Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast — describing it as the first publicly released evidence of their involvement in attacks against Ukraine.

“North Korean UAV operators adjusted the fire of multiple launch rocket systems against Ukrainian positions,” the General Staff wrote.

According to the military’s statement, the video was recovered from a downed reconnaissance drone that the North Korean soldiers were piloting over Sumy Oblast.

Ukrainian troops had previously launched an incursion into Russia’s southern Kursk Oblast in August 2024, seizing several towns and exposing weaknesses in Russia’s defenses. Moscow reportedly turned to North Korea for reinforcements soon after.

Around 11,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed to Kursk following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s appeal to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for assistance. Their presence was first documented by Ukrainian, South Korean, and Western intelligence agencies in October 2024.

Moscow used the North Korean troops as shock forces, and roughly half were reportedly killed during counterassaults to retake lost territory before Ukrainian forces withdrew from Kursk Oblast in May.

Since then, the region has served as a staging ground for Russian attacks on northwestern Ukraine, including repeated air and ground assaults on border villages in Sumy Oblast. However, Russia’s push in the area has largely stalled.

“The Russian occupation forces, facing critical manpower losses and the failure of their offensive in Sumy Oblast, continue to involve North Korean troops in active combat operations,” the General Staff said.

Russia struck a Ukrainian army training unit with ballistic missiles

On the morning of October 16, 2025, Russian forces launched a ballistic missile strike using two Iskander missiles on a Ukrainian Ground Forces training unit located deep in the rear, in a relatively calm region of the country, as part of a broader combined assault involving over a hundred Geran drones, cruise missiles, and other weapons. The casualties could not have been avoided. The wounded are receiving medical care, and the military will contact their relatives later. The Military Law Enforcement Service is conducting an investigation.

We express our condolences to the families of the deceased