{"id":196880,"date":"2026-01-14T11:46:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-putin-launches-massive-missile-and-drone-assault-across-ukraine-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T11:46:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:46:05","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-putin-launches-massive-missile-and-drone-assault-across-ukraine-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-putin-launches-massive-missile-and-drone-assault-across-ukraine-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Putin launches massive missile and drone assault across Ukraine – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are in a “significantly weaker” position after holding talks with two US senators, as Russia launched more drone strikes overnight. Authorities say the president’s hometown was among the targets overnight. Follow the latest.
Wednesday 14 January 2026 11:41, UK
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has been speaking at a press conference in Moscow about the war in Ukraine. 
Current talk of a ceasefire ahead of a full peace deal Ukraine is simply not serious, he said.
On the reported visit of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which we reported at 09:25, Lavrov said Russia was ready for talks with the diplomats and that Vladimir Putin was open to talks on Ukraine if they were of a serious nature.
Lavrov said the cabinet reshuffle of Ukraine’s government was an attempt to preserve the current leadership and give it time to rearm in its fight against Russia. 
Speaking more broadly, he claimed that US methods on the world stage showed that its competitive position was steadily worsening.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has provided an update on the latest wave of Russian drone attacks (see 08:45 post).
A total of 113 drones – 70 of which were Shahed-type suicide drones – and three ballistic missiles were launched last night, with five regions across Ukraine coming under attack, he said on social media.
As has been the case for many months, Zelenskyy said the main target of the strikes was energy facilities and critical infrastructure supplying heat and electricity to Ukrainians. 
Air defence forces were also used in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions this morning.
Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine’s “first priority” is to strengthen its air defence, primarily with more missiles. 
“Partner contributions to the PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) initiative are needed, as well as support from European stockpiles and faster implementation of agreements with the United States,” he added. 
“It is very important to reinforce our warriors now.”
By Debroah Haynes<\/a>, security and defence editor<\/b>
Russian spies are increasingly recruiting Ukrainians to carry out acts of sabotage in Europe to undermine NATO and attempt to turn public opinion against Ukraine, according to new research.
Kremlin-linked intelligence officers are accused of seeking to woo potentially unwitting individuals via messaging apps such as Telegram or gaming sites to become “disposable agents”, tasked with conducting arson, vandalism and other hostilities.
Other nationalities are also recruited.
The research report, published by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) thinktank, said money is a key motivator, with teenagers, migrants and older people with experience of serving in the Soviet military seen as ripe for recruitment.
Payment – ranging from hundreds to thousands of euros – is often promised in cryptocurrency, making the source of funding hard for investigators to trace.
Ukraine’s emergency service has said a man was killed by Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region last night.
The attack targeted a civilian area in the frontline city of Kramatorsk, destroying a residential building and setting the area alight, the service said.
The man body’s was found under the rubble by rescue workers.
Kramatorsk is one of the key areas where Russian forces have attempted to make gains in recent months.
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are hoping to hold talks with Vladmir Putin later this month, Bloomberg News reported.
The US negotiators, who have been prominent figures in all Washington’s diplomatic talks on Ukraine in recent months, are reportedly seeking to meet the Russian president within the next few weeks. 
However, plans are not final and \u200cthe timing may \u2060slip due to the ongoing \u200cunrest in ‍Iran, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Witkoff and Kushner attended the most recent summit of the so-called coalition of the willing last week, where the Declaration of Paris agreed to binding security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has been hit by a Russian \u200bdrone \u2060attack overnight.
The city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strikes set a 16-floor residential \u200cbuilding on fire, with emergency services \u200cat the \u200cscene.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military said on Telegram that a separate Russian drone strike on infrastructure in the city of Kryvyi Rih – Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown in the central Dnipropetrovsk region – has left more than 45,000 people without power and disrupted heat supplies.
Zelenskyy said yesterday that hundreds of thousands of families were without power in Kyiv after the Kremlin launched its deadliest strikes of the year so far on Monday night.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held talks with two US senators as he aims to keep momentum on the Ukraine peace talks.
Posting on social media last night, Ukraine’s president said he briefed Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal on “deliberately timed” Russian attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure in recent days.
“We see many various factors that make Putin – and, by extension, all of Russia – significantly weaker,” Zelenskyy said.
“It is crucial to maximise every possible form of pressure to finally force the Russians to end this war.”
Zelenskyy added Ukraine is “very close” to finalising peace documents with Donald Trump after talks with his envoys.
The US president was in Washington last night, reportedly taking briefings on the escalating situation in Iran.
Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are “significantly weaker” after holding talks with two senior US senators.
Russia launched drone attacks on Kyiv overnight after the deadliest strikes so far this year on Monday, with hundreds of thousands of families in the city still without power.
It comes as G7 leaders are reportedly looking to persuade Donald Trump to back security guarantees for Ukraine when they meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week.
Stay with us for the latest throughout the day.
That’s it for our live coverage today on the war in Ukraine.
Here are the day’s main developments: 
Another citizen was killed in a Russian drone attack in the eastern Donetsk region today, according to Ukraine’s emergency services.
Seven Russian drones attacked the village of Starovarvarivka, around 22 miles west of Kramatorsk, and damaged 17 homes, the service said.
Emergency workers found the victim under the rubble of one of the homes, while another person was injured.
It comes after four people were killed in Russian strikes in Kharkiv last night.
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