Russian forces launched attacks early Tuesday on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, the second-largest city Kharkiv, and other urban centers, officials said, causing fires and further damage to energy infrastructure.
The strikes injured four people in Kyiv and Kharkiv, according to local authorities, and came ahead of planned trilateral talks on resolving the nearly four-year conflict in the United Arab Emirates.
In Kyiv, where nighttime temperatures fell close to -20°C (-4°F), witnesses reported loud explosions after midnight, with both missiles and drones deployed. The strikes damaged five districts, hitting three apartment blocks and a building housing a kindergarten, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram.
Videos posted on social media showed flames consuming upper-floor apartments. An air raid alert remained in effect for more than five hours.
Since New Year’s Day, a series of large-scale attacks on Kyiv has left hundreds of apartment blocks without power and heating, with emergency crews still working to restore services on Monday.
In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attacks targeted energy infrastructure and urged decisive action to prevent heating systems from freezing. Coolant needed to be drained from 820 apartment buildings served by a single thermal plant.
“The goal is obvious: to cause maximum destruction and leave the city without heat in severe cold,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
Public broadcaster Suspilne reported that strikes also knocked out power in the Kharkiv towns of Izium and Balakliia, and hit two apartment buildings in Sumy in northern Ukraine.
The attacks coincided with discussions of a temporary moratorium on strikes targeting energy infrastructure, previously agreed by Russia and Ukraine at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump. Russia said the ceasefire ended Sunday, while Ukraine maintained it would continue for a week from January 30.
On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russian forces had not carried out targeted missile or drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the past 24 hours, though steady shelling continued to hit facilities near the front line.