Russia has reported that a Ukrainian drone attack caused a power outage in parts of the Zaporizhzhia region under its control. The incident highlights ongoing tensions in the southeastern Ukrainian territory, where Russian forces control more than half the region, while Kyiv retains control of the main city.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of Zaporizhzhia, claimed on Telegram that the blackout was the result of “another terrorist drone attack by the enemy targeting high-voltage infrastructure.” He noted that crews had been dispatched to restore power, but repair work was hindered by the risk of renewed strikes and limited visibility at night.
Despite the outage, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant—the largest in Europe with six reactors—remained unaffected, according to its communications director, who spoke to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. The plant reportedly continues to operate normally.
Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly accused one another of targeting the nuclear facility, which was seized by Russian forces in the early weeks of the war. In June, a Ukrainian artillery and drone assault left over 700,000 residents in Russian-held zones without power for more than 24 hours—one of the most significant attacks on occupied territory since the war began.
