Russia pounds Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving 600,000 without power

Russia unleashed an attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight, leaving at least 600,000 people without power in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.

"There is significant damage to facilities and equipment – at 26 facilities of our power system and four facilities in the oil and gas sector," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

He highlighted a targeted ballistic missile strike against the energy infrastructure that Zelenskyy said should have been covered by the "energy ceasefire" announced by President Donald Trump on Sunday.

"The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States," Zelenskyy said.

The attack comes after the Ukrainian president on Monday accused Russia of violating Trump's proposal that the adversaries stop attacking each other's energy facilities to help bring down the cost of oil and diesel.

Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities initially denied any knowledge of an energy ceasefire agreement. Ukraine has since welcomed such a deal, while Russian authorities said talks are ongoing, without confirming whether they have reached an agreement.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday: "Regarding the status of this agreement, we can refer to Zelensky's reaction. When asked the same question, he said he had not heard of such an agreement, would welcome clarification and was ready for a ceasefire," according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.