In a post on X, Zelensky said the attack involved more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles of various types aimed at the country’s energy grid, including power plants and substations.
"Every day, Russia could choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new strikes," Zelensky wrote.
He urged Ukraine’s Western partners to help strengthen his country's air defences, calling for additional missiles for Patriot, NASAMS and other systems.
"Every shipment helps us get through this winter," he added.
Ukraine’s energy sector has been repeatedly battered by Russian strikes, accumulated wartime damage and freezing winter temperatures nearly four years into the war triggered by Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, news agencies reported.
'Request for emergency assistance from Poland': energy minister
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said the attacks hit two thermal power stations in western Ukraine and key components of the national power grid, including major substations and high-voltage transmission lines.
"The strikes targeted substations as well as 750 kV and 330 kV overhead transmission lines that form the backbone of Ukraine’s power system," Shmyhal wrote on X. "Power generation facilities were also hit, including the Burshtyn and Dobrotvir thermal power plants."
He added that his country "activated a request for emergency assistance from Poland."
Poland's military said it scrambled fighter jets, closed two civilian airports and placed air defence systems on heightened alert during the Russian assault.
The strikes came as temperatures began to fall, with forecasts predicting lows of minus 14 degrees Celsius in parts of Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported.
The latest attacks also followed a recent round of US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia aimed at ending the war.
Despite diplomatic efforts and pressure from Washington, negotiations have so far produced no tangible results.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
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Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl, Ukrinform