Russian Geran-4 Drones and Missiles Hit Power Sites in Kharkiv and Chernihiv
Geran-4 drones and S8000 Banderol cruise missiles struck targets in Kharkiv and Chernihiv, with fires reported at the Saltivska 110 kV substation and another site in Kharkiv’s Industrialnyi district. The attacks continued Russia’s pattern of hitting Ukraine’s urban energy and infrastructure nodes.
Overnight strikes on Ukraine’s northeast again went straight at the systems that keep major cities running.
Observers reported smoke and fires in both Kharkiv and Chernihiv after a series of Russian attacks using Geran-4 jet drones and S8000 Banderol cruise missiles. Early information pointed to critical energy infrastructure among the targets.
In Kharkiv, one identified site was the Saltivska 110 kilovolt electrical substation in the city’s northeastern suburbs, at coordinates 49.998127, 36.359027. Another strike hit an object in the Industrialnyi District. The reporting described it as “something (possibly another substation),” indicating uncertainty but suggesting it was likely tied into Kharkiv’s power or industrial grid.
In Chernihiv City, at least one Geran-4 jet drone struck inside the urban area. The initial report was cut off and did not clearly identify the exact facility, leaving open what type of target was hit.
Geran-4 systems are jet-powered drones that function as loitering munitions, flying long distances before diving onto a target with an explosive warhead. Paired with cruise missiles such as the S8000 Banderol, which can reach deep into Ukrainian territory, they give Russian planners tools to attack substations, transformers and other fixed sites without crossing into Ukrainian-controlled airspace with crewed aircraft.
Hitting a node like the Saltivska 110 kV substation is significant because such installations help control power flows for wide sections of a city. Damage there can affect nearby residential districts and industrial users. Strikes on facilities in the Industrialnyi District point in the same direction: pressure on assets that feed both civilian life and industry.
These attacks align with Russia’s wider campaign against Ukraine’s power system and other critical infrastructure in cities far from the front line. By focusing on substations and similar nodes, rather than on random points inside city centers, the strikes appear aimed at locations where disruption can spread across neighborhoods and complicate grid management.
The timing adds to the pressure. As the weather worsens, demand on Ukraine’s grid rises, and each substation taken offline requires rapid rerouting and difficult repair work. Engineers face the challenge of restoring damaged transformers and lines while the threat of repeated strikes hangs over the same sites.
What happens next will depend on how extensive the damage at Saltivska and the Industrialnyi District site proves to be, how long repairs take, and whether similar 110 kV substations in other regions come under fire. Any reports of prolonged outages in parts of Kharkiv or Chernihiv, or of repeated hits on the same nodes, would signal that this round of attacks is starting to have a deeper effect on Ukraine’s ability to keep its urban grid stable.
Sources
- OSINT