Russia Plots Winter Blackouts as Patriot Stocks Run Dry

Russia has drawn up a plan to cut power, water and heating to Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa within a month, the New York Times reported, just as CNN revealed Ukraine has exhausted its Patriot interceptor stocks, leaving its biggest cities far more exposed to Russian strikes. Ukrainian officials call Moscow's energy campaign systematic, warning millions face a third winter without stable power, heat or water. The threat turned concrete on Wednesday evening: debris from a Russian drone hit transmission lines in Lutsk, cutting electricity and water there, while Poland scrambled jets over strikes on western Ukraine and warned residents in its eastern regions that strikes could spill across the border. Putin vowed to retaliate for alleged Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, brushing aside the energy ceasefire Trump had announced. Zelensky said Poland had delivered a new, undisclosed air-defense package for Kyiv. Diplomacy sent mixed signals: Polish candidate Karol Nawrocki ruled out easing sanctions on Russia, while Hungary's parliament speaker held a rare meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv. Elsewhere, an arms race accelerated on the Korean Peninsula as Pyongyang and Seoul built up forces, and 25 train passengers were left stranded in a field for hours after their locomotive broke down.