Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s interior minister, described it as a “surgical strike”.
It was suggested that newer, jet-powered Shahed drones, more capable of evading local air defence units, were used in the attack.
A senior Ukrainian source said the newer Shahed-238 models that have been downed over Ukraine are capable of flying “500km per hour – almost three times the speed of Shahed-136”.
The newer drones are also painted black, which makes them harder to spot by search parties scanning the sky for enemy aircraft.
More than 350,000 Kharkiv residents were hit by power outages after the strikes, Ukraine’s energy ministry reported, after the Zmiivska power plant to the south of the city was hit.
Moscow also targeted power infrastructure in the neighbouring Sumy region, killing a 47-year-old worker, the energy ministry said.
Russian forces have increased attacks on Kharkiv in recent weeks.
The Kremlin is under pressure from pro-war nationalists to create a “buffer zone” that is capable of pushing Ukrainian artillery units far enough back to prevent them hitting the Russian mainland.