Russia Strikes Substations Linked to Ukraine’s Nuclear Plants, Zelenskyy Says

Russia struck electricity substations linked to Ukraine’s Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants during an overnight attack on Nov. 7, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, damaging transmission infrastructure connecting the facilities to Kyiv and central Ukraine. The attack involved 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones, according to Ukrainian officials.

At least nine people were wounded, while energy infrastructure and other facilities sustained damage across multiple regions. A substation in Kyiv Oblast was among the targets. Additional substations were damaged in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. Ukraine’s national electricity grid operator, Ukrenergo, the power outages concentrated in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Ukraine Raises Nuclear Safety Concerns

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister reported the strikes to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calling Russia’s actions a “serious escalation.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for an urgent meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, saying the strikes were “not accidental but well-planned.”

Sybiha also urged countries concerned about nuclear safety, particularly China and India, to demand that Russia stop attacking infrastructure connected to nuclear energy facilities. The Rivne and Khmelnytskyi plants are located in western Ukraine, and their transmission links supply electricity to Kyiv and central Ukraine, making the substations important components of Ukraine’s power network.

North Korean Missiles Identified at Impact Sites

Zelenskyy said Russia had used North Korean-made ballistic missiles to strike energy facilities, citing preliminary findings from investigations at the impact sites. He specifically identified the weapons as North Korean KN-23 missiles.

Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine since late 2023. Ukraine’s military intelligence had also warned that a North Korean missile unit was deploying to western Russia and could be equipped with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for use against Ukrainian targets.

Of the 36 ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv and the surrounding region, only four were shot down, according to Ukrainian officials. The limited interception rate was attributed to a shortage of Patriot interceptors. The Ukrainian Air Force said air defenses intercepted 149 of the 172 drones deployed during the attack.

Kyiv Infrastructure Damaged in Overnight Attack

The strikes also damaged infrastructure and residential areas in the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city’s Northern Bridge, an 816-meter span connecting the capital to large residential areas on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, was closed following the attacks. He also said work was underway to restore water pressure.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed striking the Northern Bridge, claiming it was used to transport weaponry and military hardware. Moscow also said its forces had targeted an industrial facility producing Flamingo missiles, a power station, an electrical substation and a plant producing ammunition, explosives and gunpowder in the wider Kyiv region.

Residential buildings and a kindergarten were among the structures damaged in Kyiv. Kateryna Korniichuk, 64, who was home with her granddaughter during the strike, told the Associated Press, “The first blast wave threw us against that wall and then against the other wall, because we were in the corridor. It’s very hard. No sleep, no peace, nothing. The children aren’t sleeping, and neither are we.”

Russia’s Winter Campaign Against Ukraine’s Power Grid

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with attacks on electricity generation and transmission facilities intensifying during winter. Roughly half of Ukraine’s high-voltage substations have sustained damage during the war, alongside extensive damage to the electricity distribution network.

Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has also removed six gigawatts of generating capacity from Ukraine’s electricity system. The strikes came three days before scheduled working-level negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced the planned talks, describing them as advancing President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war. Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing for the trilateral talks by “launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” adding that Moscow “perceives diplomacy in its own peculiar way, as a form of aggression.”

He called on the U.S. Congress to maintain bipartisan support for Ukraine and push for stronger sanctions against Russia, saying, “When Russia tries to plunge Kyiv, a city of millions, and the entire country into a blackout, Ukraine must not be left to face this alone.”