Russia bombards Ukraine with drones and missiles a day before planned peace talks

Russia carried out a major overnight attack on Ukraine in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday was a broken commitment to halt striking energy infrastructure as the countries prepared for more talks on ending Moscow’s 4-year-old full-scale invasion. The bombardment included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. It specifically took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of what Ukraine says is Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water during the coldest winter in years. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) during the night and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support. Officials have described recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv delegations as constructive, but a comprehensive settlement appears distant. The talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. In Kyiv, officials said five people were wounded in strikes that damaged residential buildings, a kindergarten and a gas station. By early morning, 1,170 apartment buildings in the capital were without heating, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Russia also struck Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region and the southern Odesa region. Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major assault since October.