‘Building without power’: Ukraine parliament speaker after Russian strikes; Zelenskyy says Kyiv worst hit
Russian overnight strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid has left the parliament building in Kyiv without electricity, its speaker announced on Tuesday.“After another Russian missile and drone attack, Ukrainian cities have been left without electricity, water, and heating. The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) is currently without these basic services as well,” the speaker, Ruslan Stefanchuk, posted on social media.The strikes knocked out heating to more than 5,600 apartment buildings in Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Nearly 80% of the affected buildings had recently had their heating supply restored after a major Russian barrage on Jan. 9 that plunged thousands of people into a days long blackout, he added.As per Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Moscow’s attack involved a “significant number of ballistic and cruise missiles,” along with more than 300 drones, some of which were successfully intercepted by Kyiv’s air defences.Zelenskyy added that Kyiv, the capital, is facing the “most difficult situation” and urged the world not to “remain silent about this.According to Ukraine’s air force command, 27 missiles and 315 drones were shot down or jammed, while five missiles and 24 drones struck 11 locations. Russia, for its part, claimed it targeted Ukrainian military and industrial installations, as well as energy and transport infrastructure used by the armed forces.The war-torn European nation, which depends on sophisticated air defence systems supplied by Western countries—particularly the US—to counter Russian missile and drone attacks, is enduring one of its coldest winters in years, with temperatures in Kyiv dropping to minus 20°C (minus 4°F). At the same time, Moscow has intensified its aerial offensive on the electricity supply, aiming to deprive Ukrainians of heat and running water and to wear down their resistance nearly four years after the conflict began on February 24, 2022.(With agency inputs)
