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

MoscowThe Russian military has launched its largest bombardment of Ukrainian cities since the beginning of the year, effectively ending the truce brokered by Donald Trump. In total, it deployed 450 drones and more than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, primarily targeting energy facilities and residential areas in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumi, Odesa, and Vinnytsia. Although the ceasefire was originally intended to halt attacks during a period of freezing temperatures, on Tuesday morning, when temperatures in Ukraine plummeted below -20 degrees Celsius, Russia left thousands of people exposed to the cold. At least nine people were injured, and nearly 2,000 buildings in Kyiv and Kharkiv were left without heat. The most significant damage was to power plants. One of the targets was a substation connecting the Rivne nuclear power plant in the northwest of the country with Kyiv and the central regions of Ukraine, which had already been bombed previously. In fact, its failure is behind much of the capital's severe supply problems. Russian aircraft also hit 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 nor has anyone 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 transportation had suddenly become targets of bombs, with explosions on trains and buses. which have caused dozens of victims.

Fill drone storage

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 bore serial numbers indicating they had just been 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 cooler temperatures to stockpile drones and missiles and "continue his genocidal attacks against the Ukrainian people." He added, "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 scheduled for Sunday in Abu Dhabi but will now take place on Wednesday and Thursday. For Zelensky, with this morning's massive bombings, Putin is once again demonstrating that he prefers to negotiate from a position of strength rather than make any concessions. "Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than resorting to diplomacy," the Ukrainian president declared.

Despite criticizing Moscow for carrying out this massive attack just hours before a new round of negotiations, Zelensky also said that Ukraine is willing to accept further de-escalation measures, such as last week's brief partial truce. He said this at a press conference in Kyiv, accompanied by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who described the latest bombing as "a very bad sign" for peace. Rutte also announced a meeting of the coalition of countries providing military aid to Ukraine next week, focused on sending Kyiv new Patriot air defense systems and missiles.

Trump, optimistic

Just minutes before the bombing began, Trump had boasted about having dragged the Russian president into a truce. "I asked him if he wasn't going to fire for a week, and he agreed," he said from the White House. He also expressed moderate optimism regarding the peace talks. "I think we're doing very well, and for the first time, we might have some good news," he noted.

The first round of negotiations, on January 23 and 24, ended without agreements on the main points of contention, with only a commitment to continue the dialogue. The United States would like Ukraine to make territorial concessions in exchange for Putin accepting Western security guarantees for Kyiv. However, Zelensky shows no signs of wanting to compromise on the Kremlin's demand that the Ukrainian army withdraw from the parts of Donbas that the Russian army has been unable to conquer in the last four years. Moscow, for its part, made it clear that it rejects any unilateral agreement between Kyiv, Washington, and Brussels to offer military support to Ukraine after the war that threatens its security.