Russian forces attacked energy infrastructure in the country’s capital Kiev and second city Kharkov, Ukrainian officials said, after a planned week-long truce ended in winter conditions.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said on Tuesday that Russia had attacked with 450 drones and more than 60 missiles overnight, and accused Moscow of waiting for temperatures to drop before renewing its targets for energy infrastructure in severe sub-zero conditions.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
US President Donald Trump said last week that Russia had agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian cities amid frigid weather. The Russian government has bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure every winter since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Officials said Tuesday’s barrage left at least two people injured in the capital and two others in Kharkiv.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 1,170 residential buildings in the capital were left without heating as temperatures dropped to -17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Russia targeted Kiev overnight “with another major attack in the cold,” Timur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram, urging residents to remain in shelters.
He said the attack affected five districts of the city, damaging three apartment blocks and a building housing a kindergarten.
Footage on social media showed upper floors of apartment buildings in the capital engulfed in flames.
According to unconfirmed media reports, two thermal power plants in the capital were damaged.
Energy company DTEK announced that the nighttime attack was the largest of the year, damaging facilities across the country.
“Maximum destructive power”
Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in recent weeks have cut off heating and power to hundreds of residential areas in Kiev and other cities across Ukraine.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Tuesday’s attack was aimed at “causing maximum destruction and leaving the city without heating during the severe frost.”
As a result of the attack, authorities had to shut down heating in 820 buildings to drain refrigerant to prevent widespread network freezing, he said.
Public broadcaster Suspirin reported that the attack caused a power outage in the towns of Izum and Balaklya in Kharkiv region, and that two apartment buildings in the northern city of Sumy were attacked.
Ivan Fedorov, military administrator for the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, said on Telegram that a 38-year-old woman was killed in a drone attack in the suburb.
The so-called ceasefire fails
President Trump announced on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a personal request to halt attacks on “Kiev and various cities” in the bitterly cold winter weather.
The Russian government said it had agreed to the request, but said the ceasefire would last until Sunday and did not link the measure to sub-zero temperatures.
Kiev, which welcomed the move, said the ceasefire was scheduled to last a week starting January 30, but reported that Moscow continued its attacks anyway.
The attack came as Russian and Ukrainian officials prepared for new U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
“Neither the diplomatic efforts planned in Abu Dhabi this week nor[Putin’s]commitments to the United States prevented him from continuing his terrorist attacks against civilians during the harshest winter,” Sibiha wrote on social media.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was prioritizing further attacks over peace talks.
“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important for Russia than relying on diplomacy,” President Zelenskiy said on social media.
President Zelenskiy suggested on Monday that recent “de-escalation” with Russia was helping to build confidence in negotiations.
Al Jazeera’s Audrey McAlpine, reporting from Kiev, said territorial issues remain a major sticking point in negotiations. However, neither Putin nor Zelenskyy plans to attend the meeting, and it is “unlikely that that particular issue will be resolved.”
However, he said many Ukrainians are hopeful that the talks may result in a pause in ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure.
