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Russia made a great night attack on Ukraine in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, a commitment to stop the striking energy infrastructure was broken as the countries prepare for additional talks on ending Moscow’s 4-year full-scale invasion.
The bombardment included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, injuring at least 10 people. He specifically targeted the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of what Ukraine says is Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians electricity, heat and running water during the coldest winter in years.
“Using the coldest winter days to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.
Temperatures in Kiev fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) overnight, and on Tuesday they were minus 16 C (minus 3 F).
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv as a sign of support. He said the overnight strikes raised doubts about Moscow’s intentions ahead of the talks, calling them a “very bad signal”.
He added that it is clear that the attacks only strengthen the determination of the Ukrainians.
Officials described recent talks between Moscow and Kiev delegations as constructive. But after a year of efforts, the Trump administration is still seeking progress on key issues such as who keeps Ukrainian land occupied by the Russian military, and a comprehensive solution seems distant. Talks in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is ready to discuss how to end the fighting. “But no one will surrender,” he said.
The dispute over the attack on the electricity grid
A Kremlin official said last week that Russia had agreed to suspend attacks on Kiev for a week until February 1 due to cold temperatures, following a personal request from US President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the bitter cold continues, as do the Russian airstrikes.
Zelenskyy, however, accused Russia of breaking its commitment to refrain from attacking Ukraine’s energy assets, arguing that the one-week pause was due to take effect last Friday.
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“We believe that this Russian attack clearly violates what the US side discussed and there must be consequences,” he said.
The bombing of at least five regions in Ukraine included 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles, Ukrainian officials said.
Russian officials did not immediately respond to Zelensky’s comments.
Ukraine says Russia has tried to reduce Ukrainians’ appetite for fighting by creating hardship for the civilian population living in dark, cold homes.
He tried to destroy Ukraine’s electricity grid, targeting substations, transformers, turbines and generators in power plants.
Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major attack since October.
Rutte addressed the Ukrainian parliament during his visit and said the countries in the military alliance “are ready to provide support quickly and consistently” as peace efforts drag on.
Since last summer, NATO members have provided 75 percent of all missiles and 90 percent of those used for air defense in Ukraine, under a financial arrangement under which alliance countries buy American weapons to give to Ukraine, he said.
European countries, in fear of Moscow’s ambitions, see their future security as threatened in Ukraine.
“Be assured that NATO stands by Ukraine and is ready to do so for years to come,” Rutte said. “Your safety is our safety. Your peace is our peace. And it must be permanent.”
Apartment blocks in Kiev remained without electricity
In Kiev, officials said five people were wounded in the strikes that damaged and set fire to apartment buildings, a kindergarten and a gas station in different parts of the capital, according to the State Emergency Service.
By early morning, 1,170 residential buildings in the capital were without heating, said Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. That set back desperate repair operations that restored heat to all but 80 apartment buildings before the attack, he said.
Russia also hit Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where injuries were reported, and the southern Odesa region.
The attack also damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of World War II History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said.
“It is symbolic and cynical at the same time: the aggressor state strikes at the place of memory of the fight against aggression in the 20th century, repeating the crimes in the 21st,” said Berezhna.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
