KYIV — Ukraine's national grid operator, Ukrenergo, imposed scheduled hourly power cuts across most of the country on Thursday. The move followed one of Russia's largest missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure this year, which left parts of Kyiv without running water. Engineers worked through the night to repair damaged substations and generating facilities.

Ukrenergo said in a statement that household consumers in Kyiv and in regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv and Dnipropetrovsk would face outages lasting several hours under rotating schedules. Industrial users were told to limit consumption during morning and evening peaks. The operator said the restrictions were necessary to balance a system that had lost significant generating capacity in Wednesday's strikes.

The Kyiv city military administration said water supply had been partially restored on the left bank of the Dnipro, though pressure remained low in high-rise districts. Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to store water and charge devices while power was available. The city opened heated "invincibility points" offering electricity, internet access and hot drinks.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said Russia had targeted thermal and hydroelectric plants as well as high-voltage transmission lines. Ukraine's air force said air defences had intercepted most incoming drones, but several ballistic missiles had struck their targets. President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed appeals to Western partners for additional Patriot systems and interceptor missiles before temperatures drop further.

The attacks follow a pattern seen in previous winters, when Moscow concentrated strikes on the grid as heating demand rose. Ukrenergo has warned that further large-scale attacks could force longer outages through December. Ukraine has also asked European neighbours to increase emergency electricity imports through links with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.