Russia on Tuesday launched one of its biggest ever attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure, forcing emergency power outages in multiple regions — while also disrupting the water supply to millions of civilians.

It came as rescuers in the south of the country continued their intense search for survivors at a bombed-out aid facility and shelter where at least 31 people were killed and dozens remain missing.

Ukraine’s national energy company said Russia had deliberately attacked its energy facilities more than 20 times, leading to the forcible application of emergency power outages in seven regions, including the capital, Kyiv, the outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Rescuers carry the body of a person killed by a Russian airstrike in Komyshuvakha, Ukraine, on Nov. 2, 2026. via REUTERS

In regions where emergency outages weren’t in place, scheduled power cuts were applied on Tuesday, leaving some consumers without electricity for over 12 hours, the first such outages this fall.

Special emergency power outage schedules were implemented in Sumy and Poltava regions, with no indication as to when the outages might end.

Russia also hit a substation critical to the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, as it targeted transmission systems and power plants across the country, Ukraine’s energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Tuesday, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Rescuers evacuate a person from under the debris of a damaged apartment building following a Russian missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Nov. 3, 2026. REUTERS

“Such actions pose a threat not only to Ukraine but also to the nuclear safety of all of Europe,” Shmyhal said.

The minister has spoken to the International Atomic Energy Agency about the incident, while calling on Ukraine’s international partners to respond to the attack.

Major water supply facilities have been left without power, causing interruptions to Kyiv’s water supply.

“Thousands of power engineers have been working since the very night to deal with the aftermath of the attacks and restore the power supply. Critical infrastructure facilities will be reconnected first,” Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s energy supplier, said in a statement.

In total, Russia on Tuesday attacked Ukraine with 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles, Shmyhal said.

Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, reported one of the “most serious attacks ever” on its facilities, halting production at three of its thermal power plants and damaging grid infrastructure in Odesa, according to CEO Maxim Timchenko.

“It is clear Russia is dangerously escalating its efforts to deny Ukrainians critical services like energy this winter. We will not let them succeed,” Timchenko said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government is bracing for another energy crisis this winter, following last year’s Russian attacks, which saw millions of people without heating and power amid subzero temperatures.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles, hitting power plants and substations from the Black Sea port of Odesa in the south to Rivne in the west of the country. FILIP SINGER/EPA/Shutterstock

“The Russians think America won’t notice this signal of theirs,” he said on social media. “But we need to notice and stop such terror. We need to help Ukraine defend its skies; otherwise, Russia will never stop its missile strikes.”

The latest attacks come as rescuers in the southern Zaporizhzhia region continued their work at the site of a Russian bombing at an aid facility and shelter in a school.

A satellite image shows the aftermath of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries in Novokuybyshevsk, Russia, on Oct. 31, 2026. via REUTERS

At least 31 people have been killed, and more than 45 are still missing at the site in the village of Komyshukakha, where Russia used nearly 1.5 tons of bunker-busting bombs in Monday’s attack.

“The scale of the tragedy is terrifying,” Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the region’s military administration, wrote online.

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“This is one of the worst tragedies in terms of the number of civilian victims in our region since the start of the full-scale war,” he added.

Zelensky on Tuesday traveled to Germany for the start of a new round of discussions with European leaders, ahead of next week’s US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Tuesday that a Russian delegation will attend the talks, the first since February, aimed at ending the four-and-a-half-year war.

With Post wires