Russia massively bombs Ukraine during negotiations in Dubai

KiivRussia carried out a massive drone and missile attack early Saturday morning against Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, as a clear pressure tactic in the peace negotiations taking place in the United Arab Emirates. The talks, involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia, resumed Saturday in Abu Dhabi for the second consecutive day. As a result of the massive attack, at least one person was killed and four others were wounded in the Ukrainian capital. Nineteen more were injured in the rest of the country. In Kyiv, some 88,000 homes were left without heat. The mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, urged Kyiv residents for the second time this January to leave the city if they can. due to the energy crisis caused by the Russian offensive. "I am addressing the residents in all sincerity: the situation is extremely difficult and may become even more complicated. Make sure you have reserves of food, water, and essential medicines. If you have the option of leaving the city for a place with alternative sources of energy and heat, do not rule it out," he said on Friday. The thermometer has dropped to -16 degrees Celsius in recent nights in the Ukrainian capital.

Municipal services and teams from the electricity company DTEK are working against the clock to restore the supply, but according to the mayor, thousands of buildings are without heat, in the coldest winter the country has seen in the last decade. Taking advantage of the low temperatures, the Russian army has intensified drone and missile attacks (including ballistic and hypersonic missiles) against the energy infrastructure of the capital and other major cities such as Odessa and Dnipro. Putin is using the cold as a weapon of war. Ukraine's energy situation has worsened "significantly" since Friday following recent Russian airstrikes, which have triggered emergency power cuts in most regions, according to Kyiv's electricity grid operator. DTEK's CEO, Maksim Timchenko, told Reuters that the situation is "close to a humanitarian catastrophe." Energy Minister Denys Xmihal said on Thursday that Ukraine's power system had suffered its most difficult day since a widespread blackout in November 2022, when Russia began bombing the power grid. Most of the apartment blocks still without heating are concentrated on Kyiv's left bank, east of the Dnipro River, not in the city center. Olha Movtxan, a pensioner who lives in a neighborhood on the east bank, tells ARA that she is lucky because she has four or five hours of daylight each day and because her blog's old central heating system still works. The worst part for her is when she has to climb the ten flights of stairs to her apartment and the elevator isn't working. But she doesn't complain: "How can I complain? I think about the soldiers in the trenches in that horrible cold."

Faced with pressure on energy infrastructure, Klitschko had previously urged Kyiv residents to leave the city if they had an alternative. On Wednesday, the mayor said that 600,000 residents of the city of 3.6 million had followed his advice.

Recriminations between Klitschko and Zelensky

However, Kyiv's energy crisis has strained relations between Klitschko and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky has blamed the mayor—a former professional boxer and one of his main political rivals—for failing to adequately prepare the city for winter and the anticipated Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. Klitschko defends himself by saying that this is the responsibility of the army.

The controversy is particularly sensitive following accusations of corruption against prominent members of Zelensky's governmentbecause of the alleged misappropriation of funds intended to protect power plants. But the president and mayor are promising Ukrainians more resources. The city council has set up more "invincibility points," an epic term for tents and equipment where people can warm up, have tea, and charge mobile phones and batteries. Water tankers will also be deployed to ensure the water supply if pumping stations run out of power.

For his part, Zelensky has declared a national emergency and convened a crisis cabinet. In his speech Thursday at the Davos Economic Forum, the president warned that "Russia is trying to freeze Ukrainians to death." In Kyiv, people are crossing their fingers for spring to arrive soon.