Thousands without power in Kyiv after massive Russian attack

A third of residents in Ukraine’s capital kyiv are without power after a “massive bombing” of residential areas and critical infrastructure by Russia overnight, Ukraine’s foreign minister said.

Andrii Sybiha said residents were left without heat due to freezing winter temperatures.

At least one person was killed and 28 others injured in the strikes, Ukraine’s emergency service reported.

The attacks took place hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left for Florida, where he will meet Donald Trump on Sunday for peace talks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had launched a “massive retaliatory strike” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

It said it used long-range precision weapons, land, air and sea, to target the facilities, which it said were used “in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces and enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.”

After the strikes, Zelensky reiterated his assertion that Russia “does not want to end the war and is trying to take advantage of every opportunity to inflict more suffering on Ukraine.”

Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said Russia had directed nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles toward kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure.

Photos show apartment buildings with gaping holes and houses on fire following the strikes.

The building of BBC journalist Anastasiya Gribanova was hit, leaving some houses on the upper floors of the building in flames. Gribanova, who was in the building’s elevator at the time, was unhurt.

Ukraine’s emergency services said 68 people were evacuated from a nursing home in the eastern Darnytskyi district.

“Russian representatives have long conversations, but in reality the Daggers [missiles] and Shaheds [drones] we speak on their behalf,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, saying that Vladimir Putin does not want to end the war.

“We can only respond to this unhealthy activity with very strong measures. America has this opportunity, Europe has this opportunity, many of our partners have this opportunity,” he wrote, urging allies to show strength in the face of Russian aggression.

The strikes saw Poland, which shares a 530km-long border with western Ukraine, ready its fighter jets, ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance.

This decision “aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, especially in areas adjacent to threatened regions,” the Polish armed forces said.

Later Saturday morning, it concluded that there had been no violation of the country’s airspace.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses destroyed seven Ukrainian drones overnight.

On Saturday, Zelensky, European leaders and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to speak by telephone to discuss the path to peace.

Zelensky’s new 20-point plan is a revised version of a previous 28-point plan drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but widely seen as too favorable to Russia.

Ukraine’s president was optimistic about the new draft, describing it as “a fundamental document for ending the war,” but Trump warned that Zelensky “will have nothing until I approve it.” in an interview with Politico.

The plan would include security guarantees from the United States, NATO and their European allies for a coordinated military response should Russia invade Ukraine again.

Control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbass has been a sticking point in negotiations so far, but Zelensky has now said a “free economic zone” could be an option.

Trump told Politico he expected to see the new project on Sunday.

“I think it’s going to go well with him. I think it’s going to go well with him. [Vladimir] Putin,” Trump said in the interview, adding that he hoped to speak with the Russian president “soon.”