One day before the planned peace talks in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine reported yet another wave of intense Russian air attacks.
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha on Tuesday, Russian forces launched more than 500 drones and missiles at cities across Ukraine during the night. He broke the figures down into 450 drones and over 60 missiles. The strikes hit residential buildings and energy facilities in several cities. At the same time, temperatures plunged to as low as minus 20 °C. In Kyiv, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said that roughly 1,170 residential buildings were without heating.
Sybiha criticized President Vladimir Putin for continuing the assaults, despite Moscow’s pledge to halt attacks on energy infrastructure before the trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States. He alleged that Putin waited for the temperature drop and amped up drone and missile deployments to carry out what he called “genocidal attacks” against the Ukrainian people.
President Wolodymyr Selenskyj reported that at least nine people were injured in the nighttime raid. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry stated that the attacks were directed at civil targets, including houses, energy plants and a kindergarten. In Kyiv fires broke out, with flames rising from upper floors of a building.
At the same time, NATO Secretary‑General Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit. Rutte first addressed the Ukrainian Parliament, and later is scheduled to meet with President Selenskyj.
