Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russia had launched approximately 450 long-range drones and 70 different missiles during a massive overnight attack on Ukraine.
The attack came just a day before US-brokered talks between Russia and the US Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The talks are aimed at ending all-out war.
The strikes in at least five Ukrainian regions specifically targeted electrical infrastructure, Zelenskyy said, and continue Moscow’s strategy to deprive civilians of electricity, heat and water during the harshest winter in recent memory.
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In Kyiv, temperatures fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) overnight and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday.
“Using the coldest winter days to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.
At least 10 people were injured, he said Associated Press, referring to officials.
Officials characterized recent discussions between representatives of Moscow and Kiev as productive. But after 12 months of fighting, the Trump administration is still seeking a breakthrough on critical disputes such as the status of Ukrainian territories currently held by the Russian military, and a holistic peace deal appears distant, they said. AP.
The summit in Abu Dhabi was set for Wednesday and Thursday.
Zelenskyy appeals to allies to provide additional air defense systems
Zelenskyy appealed to international partners to provide additional air defense systems and put “maximum pressure” on Russia to end its full-scale invasion, which began on February 24, 2022.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made an official visit to Kyiv on Tuesday to bolster support for Ukraine’s military efforts.
Last week, a Kremlin representative said that Russia had agreed to suspend strikes on Kiev for 7 days, until February 1, due to extreme cold, at the direct request of the US president. Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Ukraine’s primary private energy firm DTEK said the midnight raid hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major offensive since October.
In Kyiv, officials said five residents were injured in the attacks, which destroyed and set fire to apartment complexes, a kindergarten and a gas station in different parts of the city, the State Emergency Service said.
By dawn, 1,170 residential buildings in the capital were without heating, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said. That undermined frantic restoration efforts that successfully restored power to all but 80 apartment buildings, he noted.
The bombing also damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of World War II History of Ukraine, located near the Motherland Monument in Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said.