172 drones, 36 missiles: Russia launches massive strike on Ukraine, says Zelenskyy

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said the strikes came as preparations were underway for trilateral talks.

"Russia is preparing for trilateral talks by launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Repair and rescue operations are underway in the affected regions wherever the security situation allows. In total, the Russians used 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles, with all the missiles aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region," he said.

Zelenskyy said energy infrastructure was the primary target of the attacks, leaving the Ukrainian capital facing severe disruptions to essential services.

"The capital is facing serious difficulties with its electricity, water, and heat supplies. Residential buildings and the Northern Bridge were damaged," he said.

He added that a kindergarten was also partially damaged in the strikes.

According to Zelenskyy, a substation connecting the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plants to Kyiv and Ukraine's central regions was hit in the Kyiv region. Several other substations were damaged in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.

Apart from Kyiv, 12 other regions came under attack, leaving nine people injured, including a child, he said.

Appealing to the United States for greater support, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine should not be left to face the escalating attacks alone.

"But when Russia is trying to plunge Kyiv – a city of millions – and the entire country into a blackout, Ukraine must not be left alone. We are counting on increased bilateral support from the United States. We are counting on the U.S. Congress to give more attention to Ukraine, because Russia keeps increasing the number of its attacks," he said.

Meanwhile, senior human rights experts investigating Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine said in a report released in late October that Russian authorities had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including through attacks on civilians and critical energy infrastructure.

In its latest report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine noted that attacks on power plants had intensified "once again" across the country, where temperatures dropped to minus 21 degrees Celsius last winter.

"The scariest thing was to fall asleep and not to wake up; it was like torture to be scared of dying from cold," a 53-year-old man was quoted as saying in the report.

The report also highlighted the devastating impact of the war on older people, many of whom face additional challenges in accessing shelters and essential services during emergencies.

"I lay cold and hungry, without medicine, without anything," said a 74-year-old woman from Kyiv, according to the report.

The woman, like many elderly residents, is unable to use stairs and is too afraid to use lifts, making it difficult for her to reach a safe location during air raid alerts.