Russia launched a massive energy attack on Ukraine overnight, one of the most far reaching of the war, targeting infrastructures across the country and causing extensive power outages in many regions, as peace prospects seem to fade inside a winter haze, galloping into a four-year war.
Beyond intensifying operations to capture the crucial logistics hub of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, the Russian army has coordinated with escalation of air raids on electricity production and distribution facilities, as well as natural gas infrastructure in the country.
"The enemy is once again launching a large-scale attack against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Power supply cuts are on-going in many areas of southern Ukraine," Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said in the early hours.
According to a report published in late October by the Kyiv School of Economics institute, more than a quarter of electricity demand cannot be met this winter and half of the country's natural gas production has been lost.
Air raid alerts were issued in anticipation of Russian hits from 02:00 (Cyprus time) across a large part of Ukrainian territory.
Authorities in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions (northeast) reported explosions, while those in the strategic port of Odessa (southwest) reported damage to energy infrastructure by drone strikes.
In Dnipro, a large city in eastern Ukraine, a munitions drone strike hit a 9-story apartment building, killing a woman and injuring other residents, six needing further treatment, including a child.
In the capital Kyiv, civilian and military authorities reported that falling debris caused fires at two locations in the central Pechersk district.
Russia has struck Ukrainian cities with increasing frequency over the past few months, causing extensive damage to power stations and natural gas facilities.
The Ukrainian armed forces retaliate with long-range raids against targets in Russia, typically with drones, focusing on oil and gas infrastructure, as energy revenues largely finance the Kremlin's war effort.
As Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to end the deadliest armed conflict in Europe since the end of World War II, appear to have reached a deadlock, post-Alaska Putin meeting, Russian forces continue to advance at a slow pace on various fronts.
The most critical battles are unfolding in the Donetsk region (east), particularly over Pokrovsk, a logistics hub of strategic importance for the Ukrainian armed forces.
Surrender there might be a matter of days.
The capture of this city would be the most significant victory for Russian forces in Ukraine since the seizure of the Ukrainian strongholds of Vuhledar in October 2024 and Avdiivka in February 2024.
Russia controls 19.2% of Ukrainian territory, according to an analysis by Agence France-Presse based on data from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Approximately 7% - Crimea and parts of Donbas - had already been under Moscow's control before the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.
Kyiv believes Moscow is investing heavily into capturing as much territory as possible before any peace negotiation resumes, as a bargaining chip, hoping to carve up the country permanently.