‘Record number of missiles’ hit Ukraine leaving thousands with no heating in -20C

Russia has used a record number of ballistic missiles to target Ukraine’s energy sector, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The combined missile and drone strikes hit power plants and infrastructure in Kyiv and multiple locations causing “the most powerful blow” so far this year, according to private energy company DTEK. The strikes were launched as temperatures dropped to -20C (-4F) and left more than 1,000 tower blocks in the capital without heating once again and damaged a power plant in the eastern city of Kharkiv beyond repair. Zelensky said Russia was “choosing terror and escalation” rather than diplomacy to end this war and called for “maximum pressure” on Moscow from Ukraine’s allies. The attack comes after a so-called “energy truce” agreed by Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin expired at the weekend. Ukraine’s Air Force said it had intercepted only 38 of the missiles, which means many reached their target. DTEK has confirmed that two of its own power plants were hit again overnight, including in Odesa, in what it says was the ninth massive attack on the sector since October. State-run facilities were hit in Kyiv, Dnipro and elsewhere, adding to serious damage caused by a series of previous targeted attacks. DTEK says some of the plants targeted were providing heating only, not electricity, which means they were exclusively for civilian use. The Geneva Convention makes clear that targeting civilian infrastructure is a potential war crime. Each time makes it harder to carry out repairs and leaves the system more fragile, and prone to blackouts.