Ukraine and Russia trade overnight strikes on energy facilities

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Ukrainian energy companies reported a complete power outage after two thermal power plants supplying the Kyiv and Kharkiv were struck overnight by Russia. Officials in Kyiv also shared that their forces carried out strikes targeting the Kremlin’s energy sector, which it says funds the invasion.

A massive blackout was recorded in Kyiv and Kharkiv on Saturday evening after a massive combined Russian missile and drone attack. Ukrainian media published photos and videos of the streets of the two cities plunged into darkness.

According to Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, the worst situation was observed in Kharkiv, Poltava and Donetsk regions, due to repeated overnight attacks in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

Centrenergo, one of Ukraine’s largest power providers, reported a complete shutdown of generation at two thermal power plants, which feed the capital and Kharkiv with electricity.

“An unprecedented number of missiles and countless drones, several projectiles per minute were targeting the same thermal power plants (TPPs) that were restored after the crushing attack of 2024,” the company said in a Facebook post.

By Sunday morning, electricity in most of the affected regions had been restored, but Ukrenergo warned that a schedule of fan blackouts would remain in effect for at least two more days.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that substations feeding the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants were among the targets struck by Russian forces.

“These were not accidental, but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately jeopardising nuclear security in Europe. We call for an urgent meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors to respond to these unacceptable risks,” said Ukraine’s top diplomat.

In total, Russia launched more than 450 drones and 45 missiles at Ukraine on Saturday night and overnight into Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Western countries to ramp up pressure on Russia to force them to the negotiating table.

“For every energy strike by Moscow, which they want to hurt ordinary people before winter, there should be a sanctions response on the entire Russian energy sector without exception,” said Zelenskyy

“So far Russia’s nuclear power industry is not under sanctions, so far Russia’s military-industrial complex receives Western microelectronics, there should be more pressure on oil and gas trade as well,” he added.

Overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine included a barrage of 69 attack drones, 34 of which were intercepted by the country’s Air Force. None of the strikes resulted in any casualties.

Meanwhile, Kyiv carried out strikes of its own, targeting Russian energy infrastructure as it attacked facilities in the Voronezh and Belgorod regions overnight.

Telegram channel Astra reported that a thermal power plant in Voronezh, which supplies electricity to several districts of the city, was hit. It was also reported that a number of houses lost access to power late on Saturday.

Regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev wrote that “it was decided to suspend electricity supply to some areas of the city. Now electricity is supplied to all consumers as normal.”

In Belgorod, the “Luch” Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHPP) was attacked, leaving tens of thousands of residents without electricity and heating.

On Sunday morning, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that “as a result of yesterday evening’s strikes, there is serious damage to the power and heat supply system of the city of Belgorod”.

Kyiv Freezes as Russian Strikes Hit Heating Infrastructure

• 20 Jan, 19:47
• Analytics

The New York Times highlights that fresh Russian strikes on Ukraine have left thousands of residents in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv without heat or electricity, intensifying the hardship of the city’s freezing winter.

Ukrainian authorities say that the repeated attacks on energy infrastructure are an attempt to force the country into submission.

Russian strikes left thousands of apartment buildings in Ukraine’s capital without heat in subfreezing temperatures, the latest assault in a campaign that the Ukrainian authorities say is aimed at breaking the country’s morale.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that Russia had fired “a significant number” of ballistic and cruise missiles, along with over 300 attack drones, across the country overnight. The emergency services were engaged in a number of regions, he said in a statement, adding that “the most difficult situation for now is in Kyiv,” the capital.

More than 5,600 high-rise buildings there were without heat, according to the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko. He noted that most of those buildings had only just had their heat restored after the last large-scale attack on Kyiv’s infrastructure, and he said that one side of the city was without water.

With temperatures at around 6 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 14 Celsius, the authorities found themselves again scrambling to restore services.

Kyiv, home to about three million people, has been among the Ukrainian cities hardest hit by Russia’s repeated attacks on energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials say the strikes weaponize winter – aiming to freeze the country into submission to force it to accept concessions in peace talks brokered by the Trump administration.

photo: CNN

The situation has significantly deteriorated in recent weeks, as Russia has intensified the attacks. Many people in the capital have electricity for just a few hours a day. Backup batteries have run low. Without water or heat in the Parliament building, lawmakers were ordered to work remotely.

The authorities recently moved to close schools until February amid the crisis. They also have deployed mobile kitchens to provide hot meals and set up tents around the capital where residents can get warm and charge their devices.

The Trump administration’s efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine have in recent days seemingly taken a back seat to another crisis: Greenland.

As European leaders rushed to respond to President Trump’s rapidly escalating campaign to acquire Greenland, Ukrainian officials urged allies to maintain support and for the world not to look away.

Mr. Zelenskyy appealed for more air defenses from partners and said “it is important that the world does not remain silent” about the overnight Russian strikes.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, said that the “barbaric strike this morning is a wake-up call to world leaders gathering in Davos: support for the Ukrainian people is urgent.”

“There will be no peace in Europe without a lasting peace for Ukraine,” he wrote on X. “We need urgent additional energy assistance, air defense and interceptors, as well as sanctions pressure on Moscow.”