Russia just bombed Ukraine on America's election day

Zelenskyy says the timing isn't an accident.

He says it's highly indicative that this happened on the day Americans vote for Congress. He says Russia thinks America won't notice.

So that's Ukraine's president saying a nuclear power picked election day in Washington to send a message.

And he'd already warned this was coming. A day earlier, he said Russia was preparing a massive attack timed around the US vote, hoping to strike while the world looked elsewhere.

This is one of the biggest barrages of the war. Yuriy Ignat, from Ukraine's air force, says 49 of the 59 cruise missiles were shot down or jammed, with three more still being checked. 120 of the 289 drones were jet-powered.

There are reports that Russia used Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers to fire the cruise missiles. That hasn't been independently confirmed.

Here's the thing. This isn't the only strike this week.

A day earlier, Russia hit a humanitarian aid site in Komyshuvakha, in Zaporizhzhia region. That death toll has now risen to 29, including four police officers and two rescue workers. 48 people are still missing. A day before that, the toll stood at 26 dead and 27 missing.

That's a separate attack. But it's part of the same pattern — Russia hitting Ukraine hard, night after night, this week.

And the energy grid is the real prize here. Russia has gone after Ukraine's power stations before, every winter, trying to cut heat and electricity to millions of people. Previous waves have caused blackouts right across the country.

Russia hasn't said why it chose tonight. It hasn't answered Zelenskyy's claim that the timing was aimed at America.

So two things are still open. What happens to Ukraine's grid this winter. And whether Washington reacts to the timing Zelenskyy just pointed straight at.