Russia Hits Ukraine Power Grid With Record Missile Barrage

Russia carried out a major overnight air attack on Ukraine, firing hundreds of drones and missiles across multiple regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes targeted the country’s energy infrastructure and broke a commitment to pause attacks on the power grid.

Ukrainian officials said the assault included 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles, including a record 32 ballistic missiles. At least 10 people were wounded in the strikes.

Zelenskyy said Russia was deliberately hitting energy facilities to leave civilians without light, heating, and running water during the coldest winter days. Temperatures in Kyiv dropped to minus 20°C overnight and remained around minus 16°C on Tuesday.

“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.

Dispute over pause on energy strikes

A Kremlin official said last week that Russia had agreed to halt attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure for a week until February 1, following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Zelenskyy said the pause was supposed to begin last Friday and accused Moscow of violating it.

“We believe this Russian strike clearly violates what the American side discussed, and there must be consequences,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump, however, claimed Putin had kept his word on the temporary pause. Trump said he wanted the pause extended and added that he wants the war to end.

Russian officials did not immediately respond to Zelenskyy’s accusations.

Damage to power facilities

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of trying to weaken civilian morale by damaging the electricity network, especially in winter. The strikes have targeted key infrastructure such as substations, transformers, turbines, and generators.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants. It was the ninth major assault on its facilities since October.

Kyiv hit, heating disrupted

In Kyiv, officials said five people were injured after strikes damaged and set fire to residential buildings, a kindergarten, and a gas station. The State Emergency Service confirmed the damage.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 1,170 apartment buildings were left without heating after the attack. He said repair teams had restored heating to most buildings before the new strikes, but the bombardment set back the work.

Other regions were also hit, including the Kharkiv region in the northeast and the Odesa region in the south.

Ukraine’s Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said the attack also damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War in Kyiv, calling the strike “symbolic and cynical.”

NATO chief visits Kyiv

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support. He said the overnight strikes raised doubts about Moscow’s intentions ahead of new talks and called the attack “a really bad signal.”

Rutte told Ukraine’s parliament that NATO countries are ready to support Ukraine “quickly and consistently” as peace efforts continue.

He said NATO members have provided 75% of all missiles and 90% of the missiles used for Ukraine’s air defense, under a system where alliance countries buy U.S. weapons to supply Ukraine.

Talks scheduled in Abu Dhabi

The strikes came just before new talks aimed at ending the war. The meetings in Abu Dhabi, UAE, are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to discuss an end to the fighting but made it clear that the country will not surrender.