Energy truce collapses as Ukraine accuses Russia of 'winter genocide'

Kyiv: Russia has resumed it attacks on Ukraine's energy sector ahead of a new round of negotiations, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of exploiting the bitter cold to 'terrorise people.' Russia deliberately targeted energy facilities in the overnight onslaught, Zelensky wrote on Tuesday, adding that nine people were injured.
The Russian military launched more than 70 missiles of various types, including cruise missiles, as well as around 450 combat drones, he said.
The attacks hit the north-eastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, the capital Kyiv and its surrounding area, as well as the south-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, the southern region of Odessa and the western region of Vinnytsia, authorities said.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal described the attacks as an 'attempted winter genocide,' saying the strikes had targeted exclusively civilian facilities.
Hundreds of thousands of families, including children, had been deliberately left without heating in extreme winter conditions, he said.
Ukraine is experiencing severe cold, with temperatures in some areas dropping into double-digit sub-zero levels. In Kiev, the temperature was forecast to hit minus 20 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
Utility company DTEK said the latest wave of attacks was the biggest on the energy sector since the start of the year. Facilities for power generation and electricity distribution were hit, including heating and thermal power plants in Kiev, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
In the capital, two districts were largely without heating after infrastructure was damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, with heating cut in 1,170 buildings. Residential buildings were damaged and several fires broke out.
Russian forces also targeted the surrounding Kyiv region. Regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported three people injured and damage to residential buildings.
More than 50,000 residents in the southern Odessa region were left without electricity, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said. Residential buildings, warehouses, administrative buildings and cars were damaged.
In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said heating fluid would have to be drained from the system serving 820 buildings to prevent it from freezing because a power plant was knocked out.
Russia confirms strikes Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed the overnight attacks, saying it targeted companies in the military-industrial complex and energy facilities used by them.
The strikes were described as a response to Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets in Russia. The claims could not be independently verified.
The attacks came shortly before a new round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. According to officials in Moscow and Kiev, direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, mediated by the United States, are due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.
US President Donald Trump said last week he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for a limited ceasefire and that Moscow had agreed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed this, but said it only applied until last Sunday.
The latest attacks on civilian targets and especially on energy facilities indicate that the limited pause in strikes is now over.
Russia has demanded, among other conditions for ending the war, that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territories that Moscow has so far failed to capture.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte arrived in Ukraine in a show of continued support. Zelensky posted images on social media showing the two men placing candles at a memorial for fallen soldiers in Independence Square in Kyiv. Zelensky said he would also discuss possible aid packages from Ukraine's partners with Rutte in light of the Russian attacks.
Rutte addressed Ukraine's parliament during his visit, pledging to maintain pressure on Russia and continue supporting Ukraine. 'I know that the winter is cold, but the spring will come,' Rutte said. — dpa