Updated on: December 6, 2025 / 10:40 PM EST / AP
Russia launched a major missile-and-drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday as U.S. and Ukrainian officials prepared for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year war. Ukraine’s air force said Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the widespread attack, which set off air raid alerts across the country while Ukraine marked Armed Forces Day.
Ukrainian forces shot down or neutralized 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force said, but 29 locations were hit. At least eight people were wounded, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, including at least three injured in the Kyiv region. Drone sightings were reported as far west as Lviv.
Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, said the assault targeted power stations and other energy infrastructure across several regions. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off‑site power overnight. The plant, held by Russian forces since early in the invasion and not in service, needs reliable electricity to cool six shut‑down reactors and spent fuel, the IAEA’s director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said energy facilities were primary targets and that a drone strike burned down the Fastiv train station in the Kyiv region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight. A Russian Telegram channel, Astra, posted footage it said showed a fire at the Ryazan oil refinery after a Ukrainian strike; The Associated Press could not independently verify the video. Ryazan regional governor Pavel Malkov reported a residential building damaged by a drone and debris falling on an industrial facility but did not specifically confirm a refinery hit.
Ukrainian long‑range strikes on Russian refineries in recent months have sought to reduce Moscow’s oil export revenues. Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple Ukraine’s power grid and deny civilians heat, light and water through winter, a tactic Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponizing” the cold.
The attacks coincided with meetings in Florida between advisers to former President Trump and Ukrainian negotiators on a U.S.-mediated peace proposal. After Friday’s sessions, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov said progress had been made on a security framework but cautioned any real agreement depends on Russia’s willingness to commit to long‑term peace.
Ukrainian officials plan to brief Zelenskyy on the U.S. discussions Monday. A senior U.S. official said talks would continue Sunday, though a Ukrainian official said further contact would need to be online because of the Monday briefing.
Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
