The Russian army has again launched massive strikes on a number of regions of Ukraine, authorities in Kiev and Kharkiv report. At the time of the attack, it was -20 degrees in Kiev and 24 degrees below zero in Kharkiv.
Russia has used a total of 450 drones and over 60 missiles, the country's Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga announced on the social network X. According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin has waited for the temperature to drop to strike again at the Ukrainian energy system. "Neither the diplomatic efforts expected this week in Abu Dhabi nor his promises to the United States have stopped him from continuing his terror against the civilian population in the harshest winter period," said Sibiga.
1,170 residential buildings without electricity in Kiev
"The Russians decided in the bitter cold to deliver another massive blow to Kiev. Currently, there are reports of damage to several residential high-rise buildings and an educational institution in the Dnipro district as a result of the attack," the head of the Kiev regional military administration, Timur Tkachenko, wrote on social media at around 01:30 local time.
According to authorities, residential buildings, a kindergarten and an office building on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River were damaged. Unconfirmed media reports also indicate that two thermal power plants were attacked. A total of 1,170 multi-storey buildings in Kiev are currently without heating, the local government said.
Kharkiv region: four injured
The strikes are aimed at the energy infrastructure to cause maximum damage and leave the city without heating in the cold, the authorities in Kharkiv, where at least four people were injured, also stressed. The military administrator of Zaporizhia, Ivan Fedorov, also reported on Telegram that a woman was killed in drone strikes on the outskirts of the city.
In Kharkiv, authorities will have to drain the water from the heating system in 820 apartment buildings to avoid freezing the network, explained the city's mayor, Igor Terekhov. Currently, 101 points are operating in the city, where people can warm themselves and charge their devices. The highest thermometer readings in Kharkiv today are expected to show -15°C.
Russia ends so-called "energy truce"
Russia resumed strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure last night, breaking the "energy truce" announced four days earlier. On the night of February 2, Russian troops attacked energy facilities in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnepropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions, said Ukraine's First Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov.
According to data from the Ministry of Energy, restoration work on the affected energy facilities is ongoing, but the capacity deficit remains in the Kiev region. In addition, due to difficult weather conditions, more than 160 settlements in the Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions were left without electricity.
The deputy energy minister also said that a targeted attack had been carried out on energy sector workers in the Dnepropetrovsk region, where Russia used drones to strike a company bus of one of the energy enterprises. As a result, 16 workers were killed and 14 others were injured. On February 2, Moscow launched a second strike on the same enterprise, damaging administrative buildings.
This winter, systematic Russian attacks have led Ukraine to its worst energy crisis since the start of the full-scale war. Last week, US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had responded to his call to stop attacks on energy facilities. However, the latest attacks show that this truce has already ended. Representatives of Russia and Ukraine were due to meet in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday for a new round of talks on a possible end to the war.