Kyiv Heating Cut: Russia Strikes During Freeze ❄️

Russia launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine early today, causing widespread power and heating outages in Kyiv amid freezing temperatures, Ukrainian officials said. The strikes targeted critical infrastructure, leaving thousands of buildings without essential services.

Kyiv Faces Severe Disruptions

The overnight strikes knocked out power, heating, and water supplies to the parliament building in Kyiv, according to its speaker, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who announced the disruptions on social media. More than half a million people have evacuated the capital since Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to temporarily relocate following previous Russian strikes on energy facilities.

Klitschko reported that approximately 600,000 people heeded his call on January 9 to temporarily relocate after a barrage of drones and missiles cut off power, water, and heating as temperatures plummeted to -20C. The attacks also cut heating supplies to 5,635 multi-story residential apartment buildings.

One person was wounded in Kyiv, and debris damaged a school building. Water supplies were also disrupted on the left bank of the city, which has a population of over three million. In the wider Kyiv region, one person was killed and two petrol stations were damaged, regional officials reported.

Widespread Infrastructure Damage

This marks the second major attack on Ukraine’s energy sector and critical infrastructure in the capital this month, as temperatures remain well below 0C. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated on X (formerly Twitter) that “thousands of houses are without heating in Kyiv at -15C,” and called the attack “barbaric,” urging world leaders gathering in Davos to provide urgent support to Ukraine.

Sybiha reiterated the need for additional energy assistance, air defense systems, and interceptors from Ukraine’s allies. Russian strikes also damaged energy and critical infrastructure in Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, and Sumy regions, he added. A production facility in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region was hit, wounding two people.

International Response

UN rights chief Volker Turk expressed outrage over the “cruel” attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which have left hundreds of thousands of families without heating. “Civilians are bearing the brunt of these attacks. They can only be described as cruel. They must stop,” Turk said in a statement. He emphasized that targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a clear breach of the rules of warfare.

The Kremlin maintains that it only targets Ukrainian military facilities. Turk stated that Moscow has continued launching large-scale strikes despite extensive public information regarding their severe impact on the civilian population, and called on Russian authorities to cease the attacks.

As the war with Russia approaches its four-year mark, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have not yielded tangible results, despite pressure from the US on both Kyiv and Moscow. Kyiv has been experiencing severe power and heating outages following earlier strikes this month, with dozens of repair crews working to restore supplies. Approximately 80% of the buildings hit in the latest attack had been struck in the previous one, according to Klitschko.

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a politician from the Holos party, said on Telegram that parliament’s support office would work remotely today due to the lack of water and heating. No parliamentary sessions were scheduled.