Putin ignores Trump's outcry and launches the biggest attack against Ukraine in 2026

MoscowThe Russian army has launched its biggest bombing campaign of 2026 against Ukrainian cities and has ended the truce promoted by Donald TrumpIn total, Russia has deployed 450 drones and more than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, primarily targeting energy facilities and residential areas in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumi, and Odessa. Although the ceasefire was originally intended to halt attacks during a period of freezing temperatures, by early Tuesday morning, temperatures in Ukraine had plummeted below -20 degrees Celsius, leaving thousands of people exposed to the cold. At least five people were injured in their homes in Kyiv, and also in Kharkiv, where more than 800 buildings were left without heat. The most significant damage occurred at power plants. One of the targets was a substation connecting the Rivne nuclear power plant in the northwest of the country to Kyiv and the central regions of Ukraine, which had already been bombed previously. In fact, its failure is behind much of the severe power supply problems in the capital. Russian aircraft also struck several thermal power plants and damaged critical equipment, according to Ukrainian authorities, in the ninth large-scale attack on the country's energy sector since last October.

In practical terms, the truce lasted about five days, although no one officially declared its start or reported its end. According to military bloggers, the bombing of Ukrainian energy infrastructure stopped early Thursday morning last week. During this period, Volodymyr Zelensky himself admitted that Russia had not attacked electrical installations, although he did denounce that logistics and transport had suddenly become targets of bombing, with explosions on trains and buses causing dozens of casualties.

Fill drone warehouses

The Kremlin has taken advantage of the vagueness of Trump's request—"not to attack Kyiv for a week"—to accept the invitation while maintaining military pressure against the enemy. This has allowed the Russian army to replenish its drone stockpiles, since in recent weeks many of the unmanned aerial vehicles they had sent against Ukraine had serial numbers indicating they were newly manufactured. According to experts, all of this foreshadows further massive Russian attacks in the coming days.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha has accused Vladimir Putin of waiting for temperatures to drop to stockpile drones and missiles and "continue his genocidal attacks against the Ukrainian people." He added: "Neither the planned diplomatic efforts in Abu Dhabi this week nor his promises in the United States have prevented him from continuing his terror against ordinary people during the harshest winter. We are dealing with terrorists who must be forced to stop the violence."

The only stated reason Moscow had agreed to this truce was to "create favorable conditions" for the trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, which were supposed to take place on Sunday in Abu Dhabi but will now be held on Wednesday and Thursday. With this morning's massive bombings, Putin has once again demonstrated that he prefers to negotiate from a position of strength rather than after making concessions.