Sawt Falasteen - Russia resumes large-scale Ukraine strikes in freezing weather

Russia's strikes hit as temperatures dropped to their lowest since the start of the war in February 2022, killing two teenagers in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and damaging a Soviet-era World War II monument.

The attack came a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were due to meet for a second round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi.

"Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorise people is more important to Russia than turning to diplomacy," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, denouncing the attack.

He said Russia had "once again disregarded the efforts of the American side".

US President Donald Trump urged Vladimir Putin to "end the war", adding that he "would like" his Russian counterpart to extend a brief halt in attacks due to the frigid temperatures.

NATO chief Mark Rutte, who visited Kyiv on Tuesday, said "Russian attacks like those last night, do not signal seriousness about peace".

An air alert blared out across Kyiv during Rutte's visit.

AFP journalists heard explosions across the capital overnight, and residents in hundreds of buildings woke to find their heating cut off as temperatures dipped towards minus 20C.

More than 1,100 residential buildings remained without heat as of late Tuesday, Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.

Some residents gathered around a damaged building, stepping over creaking debris and a thick layer of ice coating the ground.

"Our windows are broken and we have no heating," Anastasia Grytsenko told AFP. "We don't know what to do."

Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had launched "a massive strike" against "Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and energy facilities".

The Kremlin had last week said it agreed to a US request not to strike Kyiv for seven days, ending Sunday.

Ukraine had not reported large-scale Russian attacks on the capital last week, while denouncing continued attacks in other parts of the country.

"Several types of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, were used to strike high-rise buildings and thermal power plants," Energy Minister Denys Shmygal said.

"Hundreds of thousands of families, including children, were deliberately left without heat in the harshest winter frosts," he added.

Tuesday's strike on energy facilities was "the most powerful" since the start of 2026, Ukraine's largest private energy provider confirmed.

Ukraine's air force said Russia had attacked with 71 missiles and 450 attack drones.

Six people were wounded in the capital, officials said.

A drone strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia also killed two teenagers and wounded at least 11 people, officials said.

- 'Symbolic and cynical' -

The base of Kyiv's towering Soviet-era Motherland statue was damaged.

"It is both symbolic and cynical: the aggressor state strikes at a place of remembrance of the struggle against aggression in the 20th century, repeating its crimes in the 21st century," Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna wrote on social media.

Recent Russian strikes have repeatedly cut power and heating to tens of thousands of homes.

Strikes also hit Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, temporarily cutting heating to around 100,000 subscribers.

Authorities had to cut heating to more than 800 homes to prevent the wider network from freezing, the regional governor said.

Overnight temperatures had plunged to minus 19C in Kyiv and minus 23C in Kharkiv.

- US pushes for deal -

Russian occupation authorities in southern Ukraine said Ukrainian shelling had killed three people in the town of Nova Kakhovka.

Kremlin-installed authorities said the shelling hit a municipal building and a fruit shop.

"There are dead: three people, including an employee of the administration," said Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-backed head of the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region.

Nova Kakhovka fell to Russian forces in the first days of their 2022 invasion.

The United States has sought to craft a settlement between the two sides, but a first round of trilateral talks held in Abu Dhabi last month failed to yield a breakthrough.

A second round is due to begin on Wednesday in the Emirati capital, and is expected to focus on the crucial issue of territory.

Russia has demanded Kyiv withdraw from the Donetsk region and has repeatedly said it is ready to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine by force if diplomacy fails.

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST