# Russian Drone Barrage Damages Ukrainian Power Grid After Most UAVs Are Shot Down

*Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 6:12 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-11-08T06:12:28.087Z (48m ago)
**Category**: conflict | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 9/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/22834.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: Ukraine reports shooting down or jamming 137 of 164 attacking drones, but confirmed impacts at dozens of sites and the destruction of the Ovruch substation show how vulnerable key power infrastructure remains.

Russian overnight strikes have again exposed the strain on Ukraine’s energy system, with a mass drone attack damaging power facilities even as most of the incoming aircraft were intercepted.

On 8 November, Ukrainian reporting said air-defense units had shot down or suppressed 137 out of 164 attacking drones. They also noted that none of three Kh-59/69 missiles had been downed. Despite the high number of drones defeated, officials recorded direct hits at 23 locations and debris from downed aircraft falling on a further six.

One of the worst blows hit the Ovruch electrical substation in northern Ukraine. Local authorities said the substation was completely destroyed and warned that restoring electricity there would take a significant amount of time. They urged residents to follow blackout rules, limiting visible lighting at night to reduce how easily targets can be picked out from the air.

These latest strikes underline the basic dilemma for Ukraine’s defenders and engineers. Even when air-defense units stop most of an incoming wave, a handful of drones or missiles that get through can still knock out crucial nodes in the grid. Each destroyed substation or damaged line forces difficult choices about where to reroute power, which areas to prioritize, and how to protect repaired sites from the next attack.

The key signals now will be how quickly grid crews can rebuild the Ovruch substation, whether follow-on strikes home in on repair work, and if future attack waves repeat the pattern of combining large numbers of drones with smaller numbers of guided missiles aimed at the power network.