Russian attacks cut power to more than 350,000 customers in and around Dnipro, Ukraine, late Thursday, October 29 — and repair crews battled to restore power to more than 200,000 on Friday.
The blackouts followed a deadly drone attack on the city’s railway station amid missile and drone attacks overnight on the capital city of Kyiv and across central Ukraine.
Neptune Missile. Image Credit: Government of Ukraine.
Ukraine War Map. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Dnipro Power Grid Scrambling to Recover
“The enemy has attacked Dnipro again today,” regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.
Backup generators allowed power and water pumping stations to keep working.
By Friday morning, engineers had restored power to most consumers, Hanzha announced. However, he added that “more than 200,000 subscribers [across the region] remain without power.”
Writing on his Telegram account, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov confirmed the blackout and encouraged residents to stay at home where possible.
“Unfortunately, Dnipro is experiencing another blackout,” Filatov said. “Please stay at home if you can,” he instructed people, noting that public transport had been suspended.
The metro partially resumed with trains running roughly every 16 minutes.
“The enemy is trying to destroy the power supply in the region,” regional council head Mykola Lukashuk said.
Ukrenergo said there were more power cuts in Kyiv and four Ukrainian regions, with repairs taking place where possible.
15 Dead in Attack on Railway Station
Thursday’s attack at Dnipro’s main rail station led to the death of 15 people, and one man aged 40 died in the hospital.
“Some were working there; others were returning home from a trip; some were traveling for business,” Hanzha said as the region marked a day of mourning.
11 injured were still in the hospital, with six in serious condition, including one 11-year-old boy.
A Russian jet-powered drone hit the platform as passengers boarded a train heading to Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian Railways said.
“And for what? What goal are they (Russians) trying to achieve?” Svitlana Shcherbak, a 67-year-old local, told Reuters.
In response to the attacks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi accused Russia of deliberately seeking to hurt Ukrainian civilians.
“Russia is deliberately hunting civilians… There is no justification for this terror,” he said.
Kyiv and Poltava Battered by Missiles
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 113 drones, including 83 jet-powered variants, four Kh-59/69 guided missiles, and unconfirmed numbers of ballistic missiles overnight.
96 drones and three guided missiles were shot down or jammed by Ukrainian defenses. 17 sites were hit.
One person was killed, warehouse buildings were set ablaze, and homes and cars were damaged in Kyiv.
In Poltava, the regional governor, Vitalii Diakivnych, said Russian forces attacked an industrial facility in the Kremenchuk district.
Later he added that another industrial object was targeted, but that “preliminary reports indicate no casualties.”
The latest attack comes after an attack in Kremenchuk on Thursday, which killed three people and injured 32 – six of them children.
Zelenskyy: More Ballistic Attacks Expected
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that intelligence suggested Moscow was planning more ballistic missile attacks.
“We need means to destroy all this Russian evil,” he said. “We are expecting relevant decisions.”
Ukraine has repeatedly called for more interceptors for its U.S.-made Patriot defense systems.
On October 22, Zelenskyy said European allies could not supply some American-made interceptors without Washington’s permission, stressing, “Europeans can provide the missiles only when the American side approves it.”
As the United Nations Refugee Agency prepares for Ukraine’s fifth winter since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, UNHCR said on Friday temperatures could drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Last winter, Ukrainian energy infrastructure was attacked on at least 423 occasions.
“Resources are scarce, and costs are spiraling just as winter looms in the Northern Hemisphere,” said UNHCR official Dominique Hyde.
Back in Dnipro, Lukashuk said residents should prepare for more disruptions.
“Even if you currently have power, use this time to prepare for the next outage,” Lukashuk said.
Tensions Between Kyiv and Washington Remain
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy proposed halting Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil refineries for a month in return for U.S. support in the form of Patriot missile interceptor deliveries, after warning that its supply was running dangerously low.
Zelenskyy also claimed the Pentagon may have slowed the shipment of missiles bought for Ukraine via the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).
The transfer of such missiles from European stockpiles requires U.S. authorization.
Interruptions to intelligence received via American-owned Starlink technology also recently resulted in a dip in Ukraine’s ability to intercept weapons fired by Moscow.
It remains unclear whether Washington deliberately paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
