Frontline fighting intensifies in Eastern Ukraine as Russian air strikes trigger major power outages

Intense combat persists along the frontline in Ukraine, with over 150 engagements recorded in a single day. Heavy fighting remains concentrated along the Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka axes. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian counterattacks have effectively stalled Russian offensive progress near Kupyansk and Sloviansk, though Moscow's forces expanded their footprint south of Dobropillia and claimed control over a village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Simultaneously, extensive Russian air strikes targeting Ukraine's energy grid triggered blackouts impacting over 600,000 residents in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and 250,000 in Kharkiv Oblast. Heat disruptions were also reported in Kyiv and Zhytomyr Oblast.

Meanwhile, several Russian regions instituted fuel sales restrictions to address local deficits following a series of targeted Ukrainian drone attacks against eight major Russian oil refineries over a two-week span.

Sources: Belsat, NEXTA, The Insider, Радіо Свобода, Українська правда.