Russian missiles and drones struck cities and energy facilities across Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, October 13, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, days after US President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” that neither Kyiv nor Moscow had publicly confirmed.
Kyiv and Kharkiv hit
In Kyiv, two women aged 39 and 59 were killed and nine people wounded, including a child, according to the National Police. Six ballistic missiles were fired at the capital late on Monday, and a drone struck the courtyard of a residential complex in the Darnytskyi district. Police reported damage in six districts, including three private homes and two preschools, where no one was hurt. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed missile impacts in two districts.
In Kharkiv, four people were killed and 41 injured, the State Emergency Service said. A missile destroyed an entrance section of a four-storey apartment building in the Kholodnohirskyi district. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said preliminary information indicated about 10 Banderol-type missiles had been used.
Elsewhere, a 71-year-old woman was killed in Lozova, 44 residential buildings were damaged in Sloviansk, and a drone set fire to a cargo terminal in Mykolaiv. Debris from a downed drone set two houses alight in Murovane near Lviv.
Reports on Tuesday put the number of people left without electricity at about 600,000, after strikes on critical energy infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
A ceasefire nobody signed
Trump announced the energy ceasefire on Sunday, October 11, saying it took effect immediately. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine learned of it from the media and had not heard Russia agree. Within hours, Zelensky said, Russia struck six Ukrainian energy facilities, injuring 33 people; the state grid operator Ukrenergo introduced rationing in parts of the country.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said contacts were continuing, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine did not deserve the respite a ceasefire would bring. Zelensky said Russia “continues these brutal strikes” and urged Washington to act decisively. He has said Ukraine would stop attacking Russian diesel facilities if Russia stopped targeting Ukraine’s energy system.
The fuel connection
The announcement followed a US decision on Friday, October 9, to lift sanctions on Russian fuel. Trump said Russia would release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and a further million tonnes afterwards. CNBC reported that Trump framed the ceasefire as a way to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections.
European governments expressed cautious support. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain strongly backs a sustained energy ceasefire, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would welcome one once it holds — but noted Russia had yet to show it would stick to it.
Winter ahead
With temperatures falling, Ukraine’s damaged grid faces its hardest test of the year. Each wave of strikes forces engineers to reroute power and impose rolling outages, leaving millions planning their days around a few hours of electricity.