Ukrainian Drones Kill Three in Belgorod as Russia Pounds Power Grid

The energy war between Russia and Ukraine intensified again on Wednesday, with both sides hitting power infrastructure and civilians paying the price. Local authorities in Russia's Belgorod region said Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that overnight Russian attacks damaged power generation facilities and substations across nine Ukrainian regions.

Kyiv and surrounding areas endured hours without electricity and water, and residents were urged to use public drinking fountains. Moscow said it struck two power stations in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. Crimea also faced outages, with Russia's energy ministry blaming Ukrainian strikes and announcing temporary schedules, while a drone set an Ozon warehouse in Adygeysk on fire.

Russia's Defence Ministry claimed it shot down 709 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions, Crimea and the Black and Azov seas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hopes Donald Trump keeps pursuing peace efforts after the Democratic midterm win, saying he continues to exercise his powers, even as winter pressure on both grids grows.