Russia launched a massive overnight aerial assault on Ukraine’s energy network, cutting heat to thousands of homes in Kyiv even as Ukrainian officials pressed U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the war.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Russia carried out one of its largest recent attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure overnight, firing hundreds of drones along with ballistic and cruise missiles that disrupted heating and electricity supplies across the country, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday, as diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nearly four-year war continued abroad.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 300 drones along with missiles in a coordinated nighttime barrage that targeted Ukraine’s energy system. The attack knocked out heating for more than 5,600 apartment buildings in Kyiv, according to the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
Klitschko said nearly 80% of the affected buildings had only recently regained heating after a major Russian strike on Jan. 9 that caused widespread blackouts lasting several days. The latest disruptions come as Ukraine endures one of its coldest winters in years, with temperatures in Kyiv dropping to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Ukrainian officials say Russia has intensified attacks on electricity and heating systems in an effort to deprive civilians of basic services and erode public resilience nearly four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
At the same time, Kyiv is seeking to sustain momentum in U.S.-led peace talks. Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian negotiating team arrived in the United States on Saturday, tasked in part with conveying how ongoing Russian strikes are undermining diplomatic progress.
The Ukrainian president said last week that the delegation is also working to finalize draft documents with U.S. officials addressing postwar security guarantees and economic recovery. He said that if American officials approve the proposals, the documents could be signed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week.
The Kremlin acknowledged parallel contacts. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev plans to meet with American representatives in Davos. Peskov declined to identify the U.S. officials involved, though media reports have said the talks could include U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for urgent international assistance and additional sanctions on Russia, saying the attacks highlight Moscow’s lack of commitment to diplomacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric strike this morning is a wake-up call to world leaders gathering in Davos,” Sybiha said in a statement posted on social media.
International officials also condemned the assault. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said he was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, noting that children, older people and people with disabilities are particularly affected.
“The strikes can only be described as cruel,” Türk said in Geneva. “They must stop. Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a clear breach of the rules of warfare.”
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said several electrical substations critical to nuclear safety in Ukraine were affected by the strikes.
Ukraine’s air force command reported that 27 missiles and 315 drones were intercepted or jammed, while five missiles and 24 drones struck 11 locations. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces targeted Ukrainian military and industrial sites as well as energy and transport infrastructure used by Ukraine’s armed forces.
Zelenskyy said the sustained attacks have strained Ukraine’s air defenses, with some systems recently running out of ammunition before resupply deliveries arrived. He said the air defense munitions used overnight cost approximately 80 million euros (about $93 million).
Ukraine is adjusting its defensive posture, Zelenskyy said, including appointing Pavlo Yelizarov as a new deputy air force commander. “This system will be transformed,” Zelenskyy said late Monday, without elaborating.
Ukraine relies heavily on advanced air defense systems supplied by Western countries, particularly the United States, to counter Russia’s missile and drone campaigns as the conflict continues alongside uncertain diplomatic efforts.
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