Moscow/Kyiv: Russia carried out one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine overnight, firing around 450 long-range drones and nearly 70 missiles of different types, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. The attack came just a day before Ukraine and Russia were scheduled to participate in US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at finding a path to end the nearly four-year-old war.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the barrage targeted at least five regions and was largely focused on critical energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said the strikes were part of Moscow’s continued effort to cripple Ukraine’s power grid and deprive civilians of electricity, heating and water during one of the coldest winters in recent years. At least 10 people were reported injured in the attacks.
“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorise people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said, calling on Ukraine’s allies to urgently provide additional air defence systems and increase pressure on Moscow to halt its invasion, which began on February 24, 2022.
The assault unfolded as diplomatic efforts continued, with talks in Abu Dhabi scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. While recent interactions between Russian and Ukrainian delegations have been described as constructive, major issues remain unresolved. The Trump administration, which has been mediating the process, is still seeking a breakthrough on contentious questions such as the future of Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian forces.
Ukrainian officials said Russia’s strategy remains focused on exhausting civilian morale by inflicting widespread hardship. The country’s electricity network has repeatedly come under attack, with substations, transformers and power plants being frequent targets. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said its thermal power plants were hit in the ninth major assault since October.
In Kyiv, emergency services reported that strikes damaged residential buildings, a kindergarten and a gas station in several parts of the capital, injuring at least five people. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that by early morning, around 1,170 apartment buildings were left without heating, reversing recent repair efforts that had restored power to most homes.
Additional strikes were reported in the northeastern Kharkiv region and the southern Odesa region, where injuries were also recorded. The overnight attack further damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, located near the iconic Motherland Monument in Kyiv.
Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna condemned the strike on the museum, calling it both symbolic and cynical. She said the attack reflected how “the aggressor state strikes a place of memory about the fight against aggression in the 20th century, repeating crimes in the 21st.”
