A massive Russian attack leaves at least three dead and several regions of Ukraine without power in the middle of winter.

BarcelonaSeveral regions of Ukraine suffered power outages on Tuesday amid a winter cold snap after Russia launched another massive drone and missile attack, leaving at least three dead, including a four-year-old child. Neighboring Poland scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace during the attacks, the country's military said in a message to X. The Ukrainian Energy Ministry confirmed that it had to activate emergency power cuts in several regions due to the attacks. The country's electricity operator, Ukrenergo, explained that fires broke out in several regions as a result of what it described as a massive missile and drone attack, while temperatures plummeted below freezing across much of the country. Russia has intensified its attacks on the port city of Odessa in recent days, which Ukrainian authorities consider an attempt to completely cripple maritime logistics. The new bombings caused fires, but no injuries in the Black Sea city, emergency services reported Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 650 drones and over three dozen missiles against "all life-sustaining infrastructure." The attack comes after Zelenskyy warned the Ukrainian population to prepare for massive Russian missile and drone attacks during the Christmas holidays. "This Russian attack sends an extremely clear message about Russia's priorities. An attack on the eve of Christmas, when people just want to be with their families, at home, and safe," he said. The Ukrainian president emphasized: "Putin still can't accept that he must stop killing. And that means the world isn't putting enough pressure on Russia." Russia rejected a Christmas truce because, according to the Kremlin, it could give Ukraine a temporary respite, spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared on December 16. However, Russian forces have never respected the truces that Moscow has announced on significant dates.

The latest bombings have taken place after negotiations held over the weekend in Miami between the United States and delegations from Russia and UkraineThis comes as part of Washington's efforts to end the war that began in February 2022 with the large-scale invasion ordered by Moscow. "Slow progress is being observed," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state media, after Russia and Ukraine sent negotiators to the Florida city for separate talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law and advisor. Witkoff praised the "constructive" nature of the talks with both sides, but there are no signs of a decisive breakthrough.