Russia Fires 36 Ballistic Missiles at Kyiv, Uses North Korean Missiles
Key Facts
Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles toward Kyiv and the surrounding region during the overnight attack between November 6 and 7, and Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down only 4, the Associated Press reported, citing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The barrage also included 172 drones over Kyiv and 12 other regions, according to the Ukrainian air force. Zelenskyy said preliminary findings from an investigation of the strike sites indicate that ballistic missiles made in North Korea were used to target energy facilities. In his account, this amounted to targeting critical infrastructure as renewed pressure mounted on electricity and water supplies in the capital.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the attacks damaged networks that carry electricity from nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central regions of the country, as well as other power facilities. Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk saw wider outages, the ministry said. Kyiv’s mayor described the energy situation as extremely difficult, while Zelenskyy said the capital’s electricity, water and heating supplies were in a difficult state, also linking the situation to damage to substations in 5 other regions. The ministry said outages caused by the attacks were separate from scheduled rolling blackouts, which remained in effect across large parts of the country. Water pressure in the city later stabilized, the mayor said, after services were disrupted.
The strikes also affected transport in the capital, with Kyiv’s Northern Bridge, which is 816 meters long, closed. The mayor said repair work on the bridge had begun, as water pressure stabilized. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had targeted the bridge, saying it was used to transport weapons and military and logistical equipment for Ukrainian forces. The ministry added that it had targeted an industrial facility for missile aircraft, a power plant, a substation and an ammunition facility in the Kyiv region. These targets remain part of Russia’s account of what the strikes hit, while Ukrainian authorities described damage to power networks and services.
The attacks injured at least 9 people across Ukraine, including a child, according to Ukrainian authorities as reported by the Associated Press. The strikes followed a warning by Zelenskyy on November 6 that intelligence indicated preparations for a new attack targeting energy infrastructure, bridges over the Dnipro River and civilian infrastructure. The strikes came as temperatures moved toward zero, increasing pressure on electricity and heating supplies in Kyiv, according to Reuters. Russian attacks on November 4 had cut electricity and water for hours in Kyiv and surrounding areas before services were restored. The night of November 3 also saw 20 strikes in 10 regions, targeting power plants and infrastructure and causing outages, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said.
Zelenskyy said Moscow was escalating its strikes to pressure Ukraine ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks, describing Russia’s view of diplomacy as "a form of aggression." Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, November 10, for talks aimed at ending the war. The Associated Press said the round would be the fourth mediated by the Trump administration, following an earlier round in Geneva during February. Zelenskyy set out Ukraine’s priorities for the talks as halting strikes on energy and critical infrastructure, resuming grain shipments through the Black Sea, and expanding prisoner exchanges. The agency reported that territorial issues and security guarantees remained unresolved ahead of the meeting.