Five Ukrainians Killed in Overnight Russia Drone Attack
Before dawn on Sunday, October 5th, Russia launched around 500 attack drones, 50 missiles, and an undisclosed number of guided aerial bombs [https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/5-dead-large-scale-nighttime-russian-strike-ukraine-126226073]. The attacks mainly targeted nine regions, killing five people, and leaving 73,000 Ukrainians without electricity in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
According to the New York Times, in a statement, the Energy of Ministry of Ukraine stated: “Emergency repair and restoration work is ongoing to restore electricity as quickly as possible.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/world/europe/russia-ukraine-strikes-energy-lviv.html]
BCC News has stated that four members of a family, including a 15-year-old girl, and an individual in the Zaporizhzhia region died [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjvlgzmp4wo].
In a statement reported by The New York Times, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said: “Today, the Russians once again targeted our infrastructure—[which is] everything that ensures normal life for our people. We need more protection and faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially on air defense, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning.” This statement further implies the precarious situation that Ukraine is in and how Ukraine will be responding.
Local authorities [https://t.me/kozytskyy_maksym_official/25015] have stated that most of Russia’s attacks have been focused on Lviv, in western Ukraine, leaving many Ukrainians in that region without power, as was the case in areas like Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Kirovohrad.
Poland, Ukraine’s neighbor and a member of NATO, deployed fighter jets to ensure the safety of its citizens and airspace. “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command, Major General Maciej Klisz, said in a post on X [https://x.com/DowOperSZ/status/1974659278746062903].
This attack was mainly aimed at shutting down Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and energy facilities across numerous regions, specifically in Zaporizhzhia, but it also damaged homes, cars, and families. Damaging Ukraine’s power grid was a goal that first culminated in the biggest aerial attack since Russia’s first full-scale invasion on February 24th, 2022.
The aftermath of the attack was devastating, leaving five people dead and dozens more injured. In southeastern Zaporizhzhia, ten people were wounded, said Governor Ivan Fedorov. By early afternoon, however, electricity was restored to about 20,000 families [https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/05/europe/ukraine-russian-overnight-air-attack-intl].
Russia’s defense ministry said that the attack was a success. Zelensky said that, without a “dignified, powerful global response,” Russian President Vladimir Putin is “simply laughing at the West’s silence and lack of a strong response.” [https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/5-dead-large-scale-nighttime-russian-strike-ukraine-126226073]
The attack further amplified the ongoing intensity of Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s infrastructure.
