A Russian drone strike heavily damaged a thermal power station in Mykolaiv overnight, disconnecting heat for at least 100,000 residents as freezing temperatures take hold of the area, Ukrainian authorities reported Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attack, stressing it had nothing to do with field operations. “This attack serves once again as proof that Russia is attacking our people and life itself in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “People who truly care about peace are not acting that way.”
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called the strike a willful attempt to leave civilians without heat in the midst of sub-zero temperatures, threatening a coming humanitarian disaster. Temperatures in Mykolaiv are predicted to fall to -7°C (19.4°F) at night.
Ukraine’s military said that Russia fired 143 drones during the overnight attack. Air defense units shot down 95 drones, and a further 46 did not make it to their targets, possibly because of electromagnetic countermeasures. The attack also damaged houses in the Kyiv area, injuring at least one person.
Zelenskyy reiterated his appeal to Western allies to support the air defense systems of Ukraine, citing new statistics that indicate Russia has sent about 1,220 aerial bombs, 850 drones, and more than 40 missiles into Ukrainian-controlled territory over the last seven days. He cautioned that with Moscow in control of 20% of Ukrainian territory and slowly pushing into the east, there is a greater need for international support.
“There should be more international readiness to counter such aggression,” Zelenskyy called on. “Together with Europe, the US, and our allies, we can put an end to this war through a just and durable peace.”
In the meantime, geopolitical tensions over the war intensified after a recent telephone call by US President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin, without consultation with European partners or Kyiv. The envoy of Trump’s Ukraine later claimed that Europe would not have a place at forthcoming peace talks, which drew a concern among European leaders.
As a response, European countries have organized a meeting on Monday to discuss their position on the war and security pledges to Ukraine. Russia has not made an official comment on the overnight attacks.
