Kherson evacuation window closes as Russian strikes cut Kyiv power

Residents in Ukraine faced a new round of emergency power rationing on Sunday as Russian attacks on energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of homes in the dark. In Kyiv, electricity was cut for most of the day, disrupting water supplies and forcing daily routines to adapt to the interruptions.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian forces struck energy facilities in four regions overnight on Saturday. He described the intensity of the attacks over the previous week as "extremely high," noting that Moscow was attempting to exploit a shortage of ballistic missile interceptors. Zelensky said Ukraine had communicated its need for Patriot missiles to partners in the United States, Europe, and other nations every day.

The strikes caused tangible damage on the ground. In the Vinnytsia region, an overnight attack killed two people, including a 13-year-old girl, according to the State Emergency Service. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, repair crews restored power for most customers by early evening, though the governor reported that more than 60,000 residents remained without electricity.

Simultaneously, the humanitarian window for evacuating the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region closed at 22:59 local time on Sunday. The localized ceasefire, which began on Tuesday, was brokered with the assistance of US First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo. It was initially limited to Oleshky before expanding to the wider Kherson region.

Oleshky had been isolated by the Dnipro river on one side and Russian forces on the other, with escape routes mined and subject to drone strikes. Residents reported severe shortages of food, water, and power, with some cooking garden weeds to survive. The truce allowed civilians to leave through Russian-occupied territory to southern Russia, where they flew to Belarus before being driven to Ukraine's northern border.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said the evacuees included a 94-year-old man and a one-year-old child. Ukrainian military positions are located just five kilometers from Oleshky, yet evacuees had to travel through enemy-controlled zones. Zelensky also announced that Ukraine hit a major missile fuel producer in Russia's Rostov region, damaging four production facilities and starting a fire.