Kyiv — Russia launched a massive attack Thursday on Ukraine’s energy sector, forcing emergency power outages as temperatures dropped to freezing across the country. Ukraine’s energy grid has been heavily targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of “terror” tactics by trying to plunge Ukrainian cities into darkness and cut off heating to civilians throughout the winter.

The overnight strikes come after two weeks of dramatic escalation that has seen both sides launch new weapons to gain an upper hand ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said power infrastructure was “under massive enemy attack” after a countrywide air alert was issued for incoming missiles.

The air force reported a string of Russian cruise missiles and attack drones heading for cities across the country, including the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv in the northeast and the Black Sea port city of Odesa.

Ukraine’s “energy sector is under massive enemy attack”

“Once again, the energy sector is under massive enemy attack. Attacks on energy facilities are taking place across Ukraine,” Galushchenko said.

National power grid operator Ukrenergo “urgently introduced emergency power cuts,” he added, as temperatures dropped to around 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Energy provider DTEK said Ukrenergo was introducing emergency power outages in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Donetsk.

Officials warned residents in many cities to remain in shelters, with the air alert still in place.

“As soon as the security situation will allow it, the consequences (of the strikes) will be specified,” Galushchenko said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said the wave of attacks showed Russia was “continuing their tactics of terror.”

“They stockpiled missiles for attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, for warfare against civilians during… winter,” Andriy Yermak said in a post on Telegram, pledging that Ukraine would respond.

A senior United Nations official, Rosemary DiCarlo, this month warned Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure could make this winter the “harshest since the start of the war.”

Russia-Ukraine war escalates with new weapons

Russia earlier this week said it was preparing its own retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on its territory using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles.

Ukraine has launched at least three attacks on Russian territory with the long-range missiles since the White House gave it permission to fire them deeper into Russia.

Moscow responded to the first strike by firing a never-before-seen ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. In an angry address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the nuclear-capable, intermediate-range, multiple-warhead missile could be used against Western countries if they let their arms be used by Ukraine to hit Russia.

Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday it had downed 25 Ukrainian drones fired overnight, including 14 over the southern Krasnodar territory — just to the east of the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Krasnodar’s governor said a woman was wounded by falling debris in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, around 60 miles east of the Kerch bridge — the giant infrastructure project linking Crimea to Russia that Kyiv has heavily targeted throughout the war.

Trump taps retired general to lead on Ukraine, Russia policy

The latest missile salvo came a day after Trump named staunch loyalist and retired general Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine envoy, charged with ending the Russian invasion.

Trump campaigned on a platform of securing a swift end to the Ukraine war, boasting that he would quickly mediate a ceasefire deal — comments that have triggered concern in Kyiv that the U.S. will push it to cede land occupied by Russian forces.

Kellog, an 80-year-old national security veteran, co-authored a paper this year calling for Washington to leverage military aid as a means of pushing for peace talks.

The outgoing Biden administration has urged Ukraine to drop the minimum age of conscription to 18 to plug severe manpower shortages across the 600-mile front line.

Russian troops have been advancing in the east for months, where they have a manpower and ammunition advantage over Ukraine’s stretched forces.

President-elect Donald Trump dined on Wednesday with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, bringing together the Facebook founder and the former president who was once banned from that social network.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed the meeting in a statement to CBS News, saying that Zuckerberg “was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming Administration.”

Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump’s second term, said Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump’s economic plans. The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company’s perception on the right following a rocky relationship with Trump.

“Mark, obviously, he has his own interest, and he has his own company and he has his own agenda,” Miller said in an interview on Fox News about the meeting. “But he’s made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under Trump’s leadership.”

Trump was kicked off Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol after determining that his posts had potentially encouraged the violence that occurred that day. The company restored his account in early 2023, but with certain “guardrails.” In July, those restrictions were lifted by Meta.

Trump has a combined 65 million followers on Facebook and Instagram.

During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president.

Zuckerberg has since taken a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt, calling it “badass.” Zuckerberg also complained that senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic.

Still, Trump in recent months had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly. In July, he posted a message on his own social network Truth Social threatening to send election fraudsters to prison in part by citing a nickname he used for the Meta CEO. “ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!” Trump wrote.

The Thanksgiving eve visit also comes as tech mogul Elon Musk has become more influential in Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, contributing an estimated $200 million through his political action committee to help elect Trump. Musk is the billionaire owner of the X social network, a competitor to Meta.

Trump’s X account, then known as Twitter, was also suspended in January 2021. But his account was reinstated in November 2022 following Musk’s purchase of the company. Must reinstated Trump’s account after posting a poll asking users whether to do so.

Musk has spent considerable time at Mar-a-Lago since the election, and Trump selected him to lead an outside advisory panel known as the “Department of Government Efficiency” to identify waste with Vivek Ramaswamy, a venture capitalist and former GOP presidential candidate.

Credit card debt is on the rise, and with rates at their highest point on record, it’s no surprise.

For many consumers, Black Friday — and the entire upcoming holiday season — will only aggravate the issue, leading to even more in stressful credit card debt. Fortunately, there are things you can do to prepare and, ideally, reduce your debt before going into the holiday season. 

Want to make sure you’re prepared as Black Friday rolls around? We asked some experts for their suggestions.

Start exploring your top debt relief options online now.

How to lower your credit card debt this Black Friday

Here are four effective ways credit card users can start lowering their credit card debt now: 

Consolidate your debt

One great option is to consolidate your debt. If you have multiple credit cards (or other debts you’re repaying), you can use one loan or credit card to pay them all off, essentially rolling them all together. Depending on the product you use, it will often mean a lower rate and total monthly payment than before — allowing you to pay off the debts faster.

“Consolidation is a great idea if they can move to a lower or no rate card without a balance transfer fee,” says Mike Chadwick, president at Fiscal Wisdom Wealth Management. “The best time to do this is around the holiday, as the temptation is greatest.”

Just be careful if you opt to use another credit card for consolidation, as that could easily compound your debt if you use the additional credit card for spending post-consolidation. If you opt to use a new card to consolidate, make sure to compare offers from different card issuers, as rates and balance transfer fees can vary.

“The options are plentiful,” Chadwick says. “It’s all about shopping around.”

Review your debt consolidation options here.

Negotiate your interest rate

You can also try and negotiate the rate on your existing credit cards. As Jason Fannon, senior partner at Cornerstone Financial Services, puts it, “Call the issuer and ask them for a lower rate.”

It won’t always work, but it’s worth a try. Just remember to come in with reasons as to why you should get a lower rate. Are you facing financial hardship? Are you qualifying for lower offers elsewhere?

“This is a negotiation,” Fannon says. “It allows the borrower to plead their case — they may have excellent payment history,  have a competing offer from another issuer, or experiencing temporary unemployment, etc.”

Try debt forgiveness

Debt forgiveness is a type of debt relief you can explore with credit cards. With this, your credit card issuer agrees to forgive some or all of your remaining balance — meaning you don’t have to pay it back.

“Creditors typically only negotiate if you’re behind on payments, though,” says Nate Towers, director of Five Pathways Financial.

Take note: When a debt is forgiven, it’s considered taxable income, so it could increase your annual tax burden.

Focus on a paydown method

You can also focus heavily on paying down your debts aggressively. Two popular methods are the snowball method and the avalanche method. With the snowball method, you focus on paying off your lowest-balance debt first, making only minimum payments on the rest. Once that’s paid off, you focus on the next-lowest debt, and so on.

With the avalanche approach, you “prioritize making the largest payment to the card with the highest interest rate,” Fannon says. “This process will minimize the amount the borrower pays in interest by addressing the highest-interest-rate debt first.”

Get help

If you’re not sure how to best tackle your debt as we get into the holiday season, reach out to a financial advisor, credit counselor, or debt relief professional. They can help you determine the best path forward and help answer your questions.