Early on Tuesday, Russia carried out a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine, knocking out electricity and heating supplies across parts of Kyiv amid freezing temperatures.
According to Reuters, the strikes disrupted power to thousands of buildings, affecting around 335,000 residents in the capital. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack hit the eastern bank of the Dnipro River overnight, cutting heating to 5,635 multi-storey residential buildings. He added that one person was wounded, debris damaged a school building, and water supplies were disrupted on the city’s left bank.
The assault marked the second major strike on Kyiv’s energy sector and critical infrastructure this month, Klitschko said.
Responding to this attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched a large-scale barrage of missiles and drones. “A significant number of ballistic and cruise missiles” were fired, along with “more than 300 attack drones,” he wrote on X.
Zelenskyy stressed that continued assistance was vital, saying that “every support package matters.” He said Ukraine urgently needs missiles for Patriot systems, NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), and other air defence systems, adding that securing sufficient air defence capabilities is a central task for the country’s diplomatic efforts. He warned that partners “must not fail to deliver on this,” underlining that air defence missiles are essential for protecting human life.
Echoing this, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also added that the attack highlighted the urgency of international support. “Putin’s barbaric strike this morning is a wake up call to world leaders gathering in Davos,” he tweeted.
He said the overnight attack left large parts of the capital without basic heating, noting that “thousands of houses are without heating in Kyiv at minus 15 degrees Celsius outside.”
In a strong statement, he accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians, saying “war criminal Putin continues to wage a genocidal war against women, children and the elderly,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry has confirmed the strikes, describing them as a “massive” operation targeting Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, energy infrastructure supporting the armed forces, transport hubs, drone factories, and ammunition depots. It said the action was retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian non-military targets and claimed all designated objectives were hit.
Reuters has also reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, will travel to Davos this week and hold meetings with members of the U.S. delegation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. The development has raised hopes of limited diplomatic engagement between the two sides.
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