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Ukrainian drones launched one of Kyiv‘s most significant attacks deep inside Russia on Sunday, striking a heat and power station in the Moscow region. The assault triggered a major fire and reportedly cut off heating for thousands of residents.
This marks a notable shift in tactics during the fourth year of Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second World War. While Russia has consistently targeted Ukraine‘s electricity and heating infrastructure, Kyiv has predominantly focused on Russian oil refineries and terminals until now.
The Shatura Power Station, located approximately 120 km (75 miles) east of the Kremlin, was hit early on Sunday, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed.
Video footage on Telegram showed balls of flames and black smoke rising into the night sky from the power station. Reuters was able to confirm the location, though not the date of the video.
Mapped: Shatura Power Station
“Some of the drones were destroyed by air-defence forces. Several fell on the territory of the station. A fire broke out at the facility,” Vorobyov said.
Vorobyov said that backup power had been switched on and that mobile heating systems were being deployed to the area where the temperature was around freezing point.
“All efforts are being taken to promptly restore heat supply,” Vorobyov said. The town of Shatura has a population of about 33,000.
One local resident said that there was no heating. Three transformers at the power station caught fire, the Kommersant newspaper cited the emergencies ministry as saying.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
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A woman walks in front of the Kremlin during a snowfall in Moscow, Russia, 09 April 2025 (EPA)
In recent weeks and months, there have been repeated power and heat outages in parts of Ukraine due to Russian attacks. Ukraine has tried to undermine Russia’s war economy by targeting its oil revenues.
Ukraine has also hit some power and heating installations in Ukrainian regions controlled by Russian forces and in Russian regions neighbouring Ukraine, but has thus far not inflicted major damage on electricity and heat stations serving Moscow and the surrounding region, which has a population of more than 22 million.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday it had downed 75 Ukrainian drones, including 36 over the Black Sea and several over the Moscow region. Russia’s Vnukovo airport halted flights on Sunday for about an hour before restoring them.
The Shatura power station, one of Russia’s oldest, was founded under Vladimir Lenin after the Bolshevik revolution, and used to run on peat. It now uses mostly natural gas.
Meanwhile Russian troops captured three villages across two regions of Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Sunday.
The villages are Tykhe and Odradne in the Dnipropetrovsk region and Petrivske in the Donetsk region.