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Zelensky says sustained Russian strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid show Putin is not serious about ending the war
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Five regions of Ukraine were left without power after Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes against energy infrastructure on Monday, Ukrainian officials said as the country grapples with freezing temperatures and waning fuel reserves.
Ukrainian air defences shot down 126 of 145 drones launched nationwide, according to the Ukrainian air force. Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv were left without power as some hit their targets, the energy ministry said, assuring emergency repairs were underway where possible.
In the southern Odesa region, energy and gas infrastructure was damaged, the regional governor said, adding that one person was hurt in the attack.
Ukraine last week declared an energy emergency amid increased pressure from the heavy Russian bombardment, bitter cold temperatures and accumulated wartime damage. Vitali Kitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said the capital had only about half of the energy that it needs.
Kyiv’s lead negotiator meanwhile hoped to make progress in peace talks with the United States at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, after delegations held talks over the weekend in Florida.
Both Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky will be attending the Davos summit, which begins today, but the White House says there are currently no plans for a bilateral meeting. Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said talks would continue “at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos”.
Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov said on Sunday that talks with US officials would continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos.
It was unclear whether two days of talks in Florida about security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan had produced any solid agreements. But Ukraine’s Zelensky said that he hoped that proposals would be signed this coming week.
Both Zelensky and Trump are set to attend the forum. Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday afternoon he had arrived and briefed his Swiss counterpart on the situation in Ukraine, including peace talks.
Sources told Reuters that Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev would also travel to Davos this week for meetings with members of the US delegation.
Separately, Danish officials were to skip the forum amid the intensifying dispute over Greenland, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
– Ukraine recorded continued Russian strikes on energy infrastructure nationwide. One person was hurt in Odesa.
– Poland said it would hike gas transmission to Ukraine from next Monday to help correct a shortfall in power.
– The Kremlin said that Vladimir Putin was among the leaders invited to join Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace.
– Sources told Reuters that Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will travel to Davos this week for meetings with members of the US delegation.
– Keir Starmer said he recognised Trump’s role in pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine as tensions between Washington and Europe were inflamed by rhetoric over the future of Greenland.
Vladimir Putin has been invited to join Donald Trump’s “board of peace”, the Kremlin claimed on Monday, adding that it was seriously studying the proposal.
“Putin received an invitation through diplomatic channels to join the board of peace,” the Russian president’s longtime press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced, adding: “We are studying all the details of this proposal, including hoping to contact the American side to clarify all the nuances.”
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Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday that he had informed the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency about Russian preparations for more strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, including those that ensure the operations of nuclear plants.
Shmyhal said on the Telegram app that the IAEA – an intergovernment agency that promotes the safe use of nuclear energy – was working to send a new expert mission to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.
Power supply to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been fully restored, with both of its external power lines now back in operation, the RIA news agency reported, citing Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev.
Speaking on Monday, Donald Trump said that Europe should focus on the war in Ukraine and “not Greenland” amid a deepening rift with allies over the future of the Danish territory.
Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight on Monday, cutting off power in five regions across the country amid freezing temperatures and high demand, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russian troops had launched 145 drones. Air defence units shot down 126 of them, it said.
“As of this morning, consumers in Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions are without power,” the energy ministry said in a statement. “Emergency repair work is underway if the security situation allows.”
In the southern Odesa region, energy and gas infrastructure was damaged, the regional governor said, adding that one person was hurt in the attack.
Czechia will not sell or donate to Ukraine light combat planes that can shoot down incoming drones, the prime minister said today, rejecting a plan outlined by president Petr Pavel.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis told a press conference that the Czech army needed the planes and they could not be provided.
“The planes are not available and we do not have any other ones,” Babis said.
Pavel has been a strong supporter of Kyiv during Russia’s war in Ukraine. Babis has pledged not to provide military aid to Ukraine and opted out of the financial costs of a European Union loan to Kyiv in December.
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