Russia hits Ukraine’s power grid with heaviest missile attack of the year
Russia has used a record number of ballistic missiles to target Ukraine’s energy sector, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated. The combined missile and drone strikes hit power plants and infrastructure in Kyiv and multiple locations, causing “the most powerful blow” so far this year, according to private energy company DTEK.
Russian strikes hit energy facilities in several regions, with the greatest damage recorded in Kharkiv Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, Odesa Oblast, and the city of Zaporizhzhia.
BBC News correspondent Sarah Rainsford noted that the strikes were launched as temperatures dropped to -20C (-4F), leaving more than 1,000 tower blocks in the capital without heating once again, and damaging a power plant in the eastern city of Kharkiv beyond repair.
Zelenskyy said Russia was “choosing terror and escalation” rather than diplomacy to end this war and called for “maximum pressure” on Moscow from Ukraine’s allies.
Residents spent the night sheltering in metro stations, with some pitching tents on the platforms to protect themselves from the freezing cold.
President Zelensky has said more than 70 ballistic and cruise missiles were fired — significantly more than usual — together with 450 drones, which are used to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences. Ukraine’s Air Force said it had intercepted only 38 of the missiles, suggesting many reached their targets.
Officials here have complained repeatedly of a shortage of missiles to protect the skies. Ukraine relies on US-made Patriot missiles, in particular.
“Timely delivery of missiles for air defense systems and the protection of normal life are our priority,” Zelenksy wrote on X this morning. “Without pressure on Russia, there will be no end to this war.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, in his evening address, stated that he expects a US response to the Russian missile attack on Ukraine this night, recalling that Donald Trump had personally asked for strikes on energy infrastructure to stop.
“There was a personal request from the US president. We have seen Russia answer that request with its heaviest ballistic missile barrage yet.
Not even four full days have passed since Russia was asked for this. This says everything about everything else Russia has promised or may still promise. If their word does not hold even now, what can we expect next?”
Ukraine’s President said that Russia had lied even before this war.
“They are incorrigible in Moscow. They want to exploit the cold because they cannot subdue us, Ukraine, with their assaults. Russia’s bet on war must receive an answer from the world,” he commented.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated during an exchange with reporters at the White House that Putin “kept his word” regarding the declared “energy truce.”
“The pause was from Sunday [January 25] to Sunday [February 1]. It ended, and Putin hit them [Ukraine] hard last night. He [Putin] kept his word. One week is a lot… because it is very, very cold there,” he said.
Responding to a question about whether he was disappointed that the pause did not last longer, Trump said, “I want them to end the war.” Asked again whether he was disappointed that the pause did not last longer, Trump replied, “I want them to end the war.”
Ukraine will adjust the work of the Ukrainian delegation in peace talks following the Russian strike on the energy sector on February 3.
