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. Zelenskyy accused Russia of breaking its commitment to hold off its attacks on Ukraine’s energy assets, claiming the weeklong pause was due to come into force last Friday. The bombardment of at least five regions of Ukraine comprised 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles. In Kyiv, 1,170 apartment buildings were left without heating as temperatures fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said that the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major assault since October. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support, calling the strikes a 'really bad signal' on the eve of peace talks scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.