Russia attacks Ukraine’s Energy sources amid peace talks in UAE | World News

Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure early on Saturday, leaving Kiev dogged by overnight explosions and causing power cuts to more than 1.2 million properties across the country.

Nearly 6,000 buildings in Kiev remained unheated as temperatures dropped to -10°C on Saturday morning, according to a Reuters report, with many apartments already frozen due to previous attacks on the city’s central heating system.

Moscow timed the attacks for US-brokered tripartite talks between Russia and Ukraine in the UAE; Now in its second day, there is no compromise in sight.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that one person died and four people were injured in the capital, and 19 people, including a child, were injured in Kharkiv.

Russia’s heaviest-ever winter attack on Ukraine’s power grid since the 2022 invasion has left millions with only a few hours of electricity a day and many without heat and water.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said that more than 800,000 people in Kiev and more than 400,000 in the northern region of Chernihiv were left without power after the latest attacks.

According to Reuters, the Ukrainian air force reported that Russia launched 375 unmanned aerial vehicles and 21 missiles, including two rare Tsirkon ballistic missiles, in the overnight bombardment.

The capital has endured two mass night attacks since the New Year, knocking out power and heat to hundreds of residential buildings.

The attack came against the backdrop of trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States that began in Abu Dhabi on January 23, the first direct talks between the three countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.

US President Trump’s envoys, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Admiral Igor Kostyukov from Russia to discuss a ceasefire framework that includes territorial disputes.