Russian drones again targeted Ukraine’s power grid and civilian homes across several regions overnight. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, air defenders shot down or jammed 139 out of 176 drones by 9:00 on 16 November. Odesa Oblast authorities reported strikes on power infrastructure, including a solar power plant.

Massive nighttime drone strike targets power grid and civilians

The Air Force says the attack began at 6:00 p.m. on 15 November and continued into the early hours of 16 November. Russia launched 176 long-range strike drones, including around 100 explosive Shaheds and other types such as Gerbera decoy drones. Launch sites included Kursk, Oryol, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as Cape Chauda in Russian-occupied Crimea. One Iskander-M ballistic missile was also launched from Russia’s Rostov Oblast.

Ukraine’s Air Force said the attack was repelled by aviation, air defense missile units, radio-electronic warfare teams, drone system units, and mobile fire groups. By morning, 139 drones had been swatted down or suppressed, but at least 37 strike drones hit targets in 14 locations. Debris from downed UAVs also fell in two additional areas. The military warned that fresh drone groups remained airborne in Ukrainian airspace as of 9:00.

Odesa Oblast: Solar plant hit, fires extinguished

In the early hours of 16 November, Russian forces launched strike drones at civilian infrastructure in Odesa Oblast. According to regional head Oleh Kiper, the attack damaged several energy facilities, including a solar power plant. There were no reported injuries.

Local prosecutors confirmed that energy infrastructure was hit in one of the oblast’s districts. Prosecutors and police are working at the scene to document the consequences. The fires that broke out were quickly extinguished by State Emergency Service units.

Photos shared by the Odesa Oblast Military Administration showed a damaged section of a solar array following the overnight strike.

Critical infrastructure and essential services in the affected area were switched to backup power systems.

Sumy Oblast: Homes and power lines damaged in drone strikes

In Velyka Chernechchyna, Sumy Oblast, three Shahed drones struck the territory of a local community. The strikes set fire to a warehouse, a barn, and damaged a number of residential structures. 

The strikes ignited an industrial building and a private barn and caused damage in several households. Serhii Kryvosheyenko, the head of the city military administration, said two drones hit a non-residential structure and one struck the road surface.

Kryvosheyenko said the attack damaged 13 buildings and 17 households, including 69 windows and 7 roofs. More than 30 homes lost electricity. Olena Sitalo, the head of the local starostynskyi district, told Suspilne that the attack also damaged a business that had not worked for a long time. Local crews are restoring electricity.

Resident Oksana Kolisnichenko described how one drone set her garage and storage buildings on fire while her family slept.

“Just five more meters — and we’d be burning,” she said. Her family grabbed their documents and escaped after the third strike shattered their windows, according to Suspilne.

Local authorities said an 86-year-old woman suffered an acute stress reaction after the attack. Artem Kobzar reported that the drones hit the community around 1:00 a.m. and damaged power lines, roofs, windows, and doors in at least 15 households.

Kharkiv Oblast: One man injured in bomb strike

In Katerynivka, Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian guided bomb hit the village on 15 November, injuring a 61-year-old man with shrapnel wounds to his leg, according to the local police. The man is a resident of the Velykyi Burluk community.

Five one-family homes and three outbuildings were damaged, and a fire broke out covering an area of 150 square meters, according to local police and emergency services. Regional head Oleh Syniehubov confirmed the details.