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At least four killed and more than 20 wounded in attack that also left thousands of apartment buildings without heating
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The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on Monday after Russia used its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile in a major strike on Ukraine.
The missile was fired on Friday at a target in western Ukraine as part of a broader overnight drone and missile assault. Ukrainian authorities said the attack killed at least four people in Kyiv, wounded more than 20 others and left nearly 6,000 apartment buildings without heating as temperatures dropped well below freezing.
Russia has claimed the Oreshnik strike was retaliation for an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences, an allegation Kyiv denies. Europe has also condemned Russia’s latest attack as a “clear escalation” and warned it was an attempt to “instil fear”.
US president Donald Trump said on Friday that Putin “fears the United States” but not Europe. In comments likely to cause concern in Europe, the US president said that a mission to capture the Russian President, mirroring the operation to seize Nicolas Maduro, would “not be necessary”.
The UK will spend £200 million preparing British troops for deployment to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, the Defence Secretary has announced.
John Healey was speaking after a one-day visit to Kyiv on Friday, where he discussed plans for the Multinational Force Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The money will pay for upgrades to vehicles and communications systems, counter-drone protection and other equipment to ensure troops are ready to deploy.
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Sweden will spend 15 billion Swedish crowns ($1.6 billion) on air defence aimed at primarily protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure, the government said on Sunday.
Sweden has, like most European countries, invested heavily in defence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Sweden’s vast territory has remained vulnerable to aerial threats.
“The experience from the war in Ukraine clearly shows how crucial a robust and resilient air defence is,” defence minister Pal Jonson told reporters at a security conference in northern Sweden.
He said Sweden would buy short-range air defence systems to protect cities, bridges, power plants and other critical infrastructure.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson criticised the US administration’s “threatening rhetoric” against Greenland and Denmark, saying the US should thank Denmark for being a loyal ally.
As Ukraine is gripped by a bitter cold snap, more than one million people have been left without heating and electricity as Russia ramps up attacks on energy infrastructure.
Elderly residents and those with vulnerable family members told The Independent they are cold and unable to cook proper meals as they face temperatures as low as -15C.
Despondent and fearing death, many are struggling through the winter as blackouts plunge Ukraine’s cities into darkness, lit up only by the bright flash of Russian drone and missile attacks.
Alex Croft reports:
Ukraine’s energy ministry said Russian forces had attacked the country’s power system again during the night, briefly cutting off electricity to the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
“Not a single day passed this week without attacks on energy facilities and critical infrastructure. A total of 44 attacks were recorded,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram.
Svyrydenko said the restoration of heat and electricity supplies was proceeding at a record pace, noting significant improvements in Kyiv would require time but could be reached by Thursday.
The war’s fourth winter could be the coldest and darkest yet, with the accumulated damage to Ukraine’s energy grid bringing utilities to the brink and temperatures, already below-12C, set to plunge to -20C later this week.
“Restoration work is ongoing. However, the energy supply situation in the capital remains very difficult,” Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Telegram.
“According to forecasts, the severe frosts are not expected to subside in the coming days. Therefore, the difficult situation in the capital will continue,” he added.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of deliberately waiting for freezing weather to make things worse for the Ukrainian people.
He described Russia launching more than 2,000 drones, bombs and missiles against Ukraine over the past week as “a cynical Russian terror specifically against civilians”.
Moscow made no immediate response.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 1,100 drones, more than 890 guided aerial bombs and over 50 missiles, including ballistic, cruise and medium-range weapons, against Ukraine over the past week.
On Friday, a missile strike on Kyiv left virtually the entire city without power and heating amid a sharp cold snap, and it was not until Sunday that authorities restored water supplies and partially restored electricity and heating.
As many as 30,000 people in Kyiv remain without power following Russia’s Friday attack, Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said on Sunday.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said around half the apartment buildings – nearly 6,000 – in snowy Kyiv were left without heat in daytime temperatures of about minus 8C.
Russia deployed the new jet-powered “Geran-5” strike drone against Ukraine this month for the first time, the Ukrainian defence ministry’s main intelligence directorate said on Sunday.
According to the directorate, the drone is a Russian variant of the Iranian-designed Shahed and can carry a 90-kilogram (200-pound) warhead, with a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).
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