Russia has used ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to launch more attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president noted that Kyiv had again received no early warning of the attack from partner countries who in the past have shared that intelligence.
Mr Zelensky is grappling with the implications of recent Washington moves benefiting Russian President Vladimir Putin, including waiving US sanctions on Moscow and signing a deal to import Russian diesel.
Meanwhile, Moscow and Kyiv were discussing the possible evacuation of the Russian-occupied frontline city of Oleshky, where about 2,000 people have been cut off from food and medical supplies for months in the southern Kherson region, according to a Ukrainian human rights official.
Mr Zelensky said detrimental speed limits were still in place on Kyiv’s use of the military-grade version of US company SpaceX’s satellite internet service.
Full service was being restored at the end of last week, but he said on Monday that speed restrictions were still slowing down Ukraine’s drones at points along the front line.
Also, a severe shortage of American-made Patriot air defence systems have made Ukraine more vulnerable.
Another Russian ballistic missile attack came in several waves overnight, and once again, there was no early warning from our partners. They again targeted energy facilities and infrastructure, but a medical clinic, a school, a metro station, and ordinary residential buildings… pic.twitter.com/0XJGu9Rjtx
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 19, 2026
Delays were still occurring with some “vital supplies” from the US defence department, Mr Zelensky said without elaborating, and senior Kyiv officials were urgently contacting other countries to help strengthen air defences.
Western intelligence sharing has helped Ukraine counter Russia’s devastating ballistic missiles and hold back Moscow’s invasion, which began more than four-and-a-half years ago.
US President Donald Trump says Washington has not stopped providing intelligence to Kyiv, and secretary of state Marco Rubio repeated that position on Monday.
Mr Rubio said he had no information about the previous night’s Russian attack.
The Russian nighttime barrage hit 28 substations and other critical energy facilities, denying more than half-a-million people light, heating and running water, Mr Zelensky said on social media.
Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the region around it, he said, with officials in the capital reporting that a 21-year-old woman was killed.
The Russian defence ministry said that it carried out a “massive strike” against targets inside Ukraine, including a data centre, a logistics hub storing components for drones and cruise missiles, an industrial facility making drone components, and a locomotive depot where missiles are stored.
Mr Trump accuses Mr Zelensky of not wanting Russia’s invasion to end.
Meanwhile, Washington’s efforts to bring peace have made no progress.
Even a recent truce covering energy infrastructure that Mr Trump demanded came to nothing.
Western help has been vital for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s bigger military, but fears have mounted in Kyiv that Mr Trump may be turning his back on Ukraine.
Mr Putin, western analysts and officials say, believes that he can wait for foreign support for Ukraine to unravel and that Russia’s bigger military will then crush Ukraine’s resistance.
“Ukraine never wanted this war, and we have welcomed literally EVERY attempt by our partners to bring this war to a dignified end. We have responded positively to EVERY ceasefire proposal,” Mr Zelensky said on Monday on social media.
“The reality is that the war continues, and it continues solely because of Russian strikes and Russia’s desire to drag this war out.”
Ukraine has held back Russia’s bigger army on the front line and has hit back with long-range strikes deep inside Russia that have struck oil refineries and brought fuel shortages.
On Sunday, Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war, setting fire to an oil export terminal and a depot in St Petersburg.
Russia has sought to disrupt daily life in Ukraine and torment civilians with drone and missiles strikes that hit trains, shopping centres, petrol stations and supermarkets.
I held a coordination call on the situation in Ukraine’s regions following another wave of Russian attacks. Unfortunately, 28 substations and other critical energy facilities were hit. Restoration work is underway everywhere, and electricity is gradually being restored to people.… pic.twitter.com/quYo7kNlDj
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 19, 2026
Russia and Ukraine are engaged in talks on ending the plight of people trapped in Oleshky, Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said in an interview with Espreso.
Oleshky has received global attention in recent weeks as the desperate plight of its trapped civilians came to light.
There is no electricity, heat or running water in the city, which was seized by Russia on the first day of the full-scale invasion in 2022, and escaping it is fraught with risk from mined roads and drone attacks.
It sits across the Dnipro River from Kherson, which is held by Ukrainian troops.
Both sides blame each other for bringing the city to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Russia says Ukraine deliberately blocks supplies and evacuations; Kyiv counters that Moscow is effectively holding civilians hostage.
In a phone call on Friday with Mr Putin, Pope Leo urged a ceasefire to allow aid into Oleshky and to safely evacuate civilians, the Vatican said.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin voiced support for the Vatican efforts to help protect the population and secure vital supplies, and voiced readiness to co-operate.
Leo spoke to Mr Zelensky on Monday and urged co-operation with Russia on Oleshky, the Vatican said.
Meanwhile, US and Russian officials said on Monday that talks were continuing on the possibility of a trilateral meeting involving Mr Putin, Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at an APEC summit in China next month to try to negotiate a deal on Ukraine, without Kyiv’s participation.
The possibility was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Mr Rubio said he was aware of the possibility.
A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US, and Russia could help end the war sooner. A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war.
Inviting Putin to such a meeting would…
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) October 19, 2026
“I mean, I think there’s been talks of a meeting. I don’t know if anything’s been finalised,” he told reporters.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that while the possibility of such a meeting has been mentioned, “no substantive proposals or agreements neither regarding the meeting itself nor its potential agenda and content have been discussed or put forward by anyone”.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha dismissed the idea of an end to the war being discussed without Kyiv officials being present, saying it would embolden Mr Putin.
“Inviting Putin to such a meeting would feed his appetite for self-aggrandisement and give him a stature he does not deserve,” Mr Sybiha said on X.
Elsewhere, Lithuania is raising alert levels at more than 15 strategic infrastructure sites after an arson attempt on Sunday at a Starlink base station in Vilnius, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Monday.
European officials and law enforcement have warned repeatedly that Russia is waging a hybrid war against Europe, including sabotage, arson and vandalism, as well as influence operations.