Russia carried out its second major drone and missile assault on Ukraine in four days Tuesday, targeting the power grid amid freezing temperatures as Moscow’s invasion nears its fourth year, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nearly 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles, and seven cruise missiles struck eight regions overnight. One attack in Kharkiv killed four people at a mail depot, while hundreds of thousands of households in Kyiv remained without electricity.
Daytime temperatures in the capital fell to minus 12 degrees Celsius (about 10 degrees Fahrenheit), with ice-covered streets and the hum of generators marking life under severe power shortages. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described Monday night’s strikes as the largest blackout the city has faced so far.
Over 500 residential buildings lacked central heating, forcing residents to gather in apartments with power or hot water. Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal daily for those in need and announced bonuses for city workers restoring critical infrastructure.
Four days earlier, Russia launched another large-scale overnight attack, including a hypersonic missile strike in western Ukraine. The U.S. called Russia’s moves a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation” as Washington seeks to advance peace talks.
Tammy Bruce, U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, condemned Russia’s attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure and highlighted the rising civilian toll. Russian assaults have repeatedly targeted heat and water supplies, a strategy Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing winter.”
The Kharkiv strike wounded 10 people, while six were injured in Odesa, where energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, and other buildings were damaged.
According to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission, 2025 was the deadliest year for Ukrainian civilians since the invasion began, with 2,514 killed and 12,142 injured, a 31% increase from 2024. Danielle Bell, the agency’s head, said long-range attacks now affect civilians far beyond the front lines.
Zelenskyy called for faster delivery of air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe to counter the ongoing attacks. Meanwhile, Russia reported shooting down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven over Rostov region. Ukrainian forces claimed their drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog, causing fires and damage to production buildings.