Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Kyiv said.
Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
The barrage came as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support and a day before Russia and Ukraine were due to attend U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on ending the all-out war, which Russia launched nearly four years ago.
The bombardment of at least five regions of Ukraine included a record number of 32 ballistic missiles and specifically took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of Moscow´s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water during the coldest winter in years.
Private power company DTEK said it was the heaviest barrage of the electricity network this year. At least 10 people were wounded, officials said.
“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) during the night and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday.
He urged allies to send more air defense supplies and bring “maximum pressure” to bear on Russia to end its full-scale invasion, which began on Feb.
