Ukraine Launches Massive Drone Offensive Across Russia, Knocking Out Power to Hundreds of Thousands

Russia's military reported intercepting 148 Ukrainian drones within a three-hour window on Sunday evening, marking one of the more significant aerial campaigns in recent months. Air defence units neutralized the unmanned aircraft primarily over central and southern regions of the country between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, according to an official Defence Ministry statement.

The widespread assault triggered extensive power outages, leaving close to 500,000 households without electricity across multiple Russian-held territories. Emergency crews were deployed overnight to begin restoration efforts, with crews making progress in several affected areas by early Monday.

Among the hardest-hit locations was the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, where falling drone debris struck a residential high-rise building. Mayor Andrei Kravchenko confirmed the incident but provided no immediate information regarding casualties. The strike on a civilian building drew renewed attention to the expanding geographic reach of Ukraine's drone campaign.

In the border region of Belgorod, which has become a recurring flashpoint in cross-border exchanges, a civil defence volunteer was killed in a separate drone attack on Sunday evening. The loss underscored the human cost being borne in Russian frontier communities increasingly exposed to Ukrainian strikes.

Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, also faced repeated aerial threats throughout the day. The governor of Sevastopol reported four separate drone attack waves targeting the port city, with seven additional drones successfully intercepted during the final wave.

In Russian-occupied areas of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in eastern Ukraine, authorities scrambled to restore electricity following Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure. Repair teams managed to bring power back to the cities of Donetsk and Makiivka, though work continued in districts still experiencing outages.

The coordinated overnight campaign reflects Ukraine's continued strategic focus on disrupting Russian logistics, infrastructure, and military readiness deep within occupied and Russian territory.