Russian forces carried out a large overnight missile attack on Ukraine, leaving more than half a million people across the country without electricity, according to accounts cited in reporting by RFI. Explosions were heard in Kyiv, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Western partners again failed to give advance warning of the assault, a claim carried by Xinhua.
RFI's analysis piece asks whether the strikes reveal the outline of a Russia-US-China "alliance." The framing is presented as a question rather than a conclusion, and the reporting offers no further detail on what the supposed alignment consists of.
Alongside the strikes, Russia said it hit Ukrainian port infrastructure, while Ukraine said it intercepted Russian drones, according to Sohu. These competing accounts could not be independently verified from the material available.
The scale of the power outages reported by Wencheng City points to continued pressure on Ukraine's energy system. Zelensky's complaint about the absence of Western warnings, as reported by Xinhua, suggests friction with partners over intelligence sharing.
Watch for official statements from Washington and Beijing responding to RFI's characterization, and for updated casualty and damage figures from Ukrainian authorities.