Widespread heating outages in Kyiv due to Russian missile strikes are expected to continue into the weekend, prompting the city’s mayor to urge residents to temporarily evacuate as frigid temperatures are anticipated to drop even further.
A significant missile and drone offensive on Kyiv resulted in four fatalities and severe damage to apartment buildings. Additionally, Moscow launched its notorious Oreshnik ballistic missile at western Ukraine, which sparked outcry from European nations.
This attack occurred just hours after Russia dismissed a proposal from Kyiv and its Western allies to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
Journalists from AFP in Kyiv observed residents seeking safety late Thursday as air raid sirens rang out, while Russian drones detonated against residential structures and missiles streaked overhead.
“Russia is attempting to weaponize the cold as a means of terror,” stated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in Kyiv with British Defense Secretary John Healy.
Zelensky noted that 20 residential buildings, including the Qatari embassy, sustained damage in what constitutes one of the most severe assaults on the capital in months.
Qatar expressed “deep regret” over the damage to its embassy, confirming that its staff remained unharmed.
Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported that approximately half of the residential buildings in Kyiv—around 6,000—were left without heating due to the assault.
Temperatures are expected to plummet to minus 15 degrees Celsius by Saturday.
Officials expressed optimism that some heating might be restored by Friday night.
“In areas with more complicated damage, additional time will be required,” said Oleksiy Kuleba, the Ukrainian Restoration Minister.
Klitschko described the circumstances as “extremely challenging” and urged residents who can to temporarily relocate to places with alternative heating sources.
City officials announced the establishment of 1,200 warming centers to assist those in need.
Among the four fatalities was a medic who died when a building was targeted in a subsequent strike, while 26 others sustained injuries.
Nina, a 70-year-old resident of one of the affected buildings, expressed her frustration to AFP about discussions of a potential resolution to the conflict while Russia continues its deadly assaults.
“Where is Europe, where is America? It doesn’t affect them in the same way,” she lamented.
Her neighbor, Kostiantyn Kondratchenko, age 58, attempted to extinguish a second-floor blaze from the drone strike using a hose meant for watering flowers.
This latest barrage is part of a persistent assault on Ukraine as diplomats strive for a breakthrough in what has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Russia shows no indication of scaling back its ground operations or aerial assaults.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced it targeted “strategic assets” with the Oreshnik missile—marking only the second confirmed use of this new weapon, touted by the Kremlin as uncounterable.
Ukrainian officials reported that a ballistic missile traveling at approximately 13,000 kilometers per hour impacted an “infrastructure facility” near Lviv, although they refrained from detailing the damage.
The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads.
Regional officials in Lviv stated that radiation levels remained normal following the attack.
France, Germany, and Britain condemned Moscow’s “escalatory and unacceptable” deployment of the Oreshnik, as stated by a spokesperson for the U.K. government following discussions among the three nations’ leaders.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Belgorod region, over half a million residents were reported to be without electricity or heating in the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike on local utilities.
Despite extensive diplomatic efforts led by U.S. President Donald Trump, a resolution to the ongoing conflict remains elusive.
Russia reacted negatively this week after European leaders and U.S. representatives unveiled post-war assurances for Ukraine, which would involve a U.S.-led oversight mechanism and a multinational force.
Moscow criticized this plan as “dangerous” and “destructive.”
Key territorial disputes remain unresolved, with Russia insisting on complete control over Ukraine’s Donbas region, partly still held by Kyiv.
Currently, around 20% of Ukraine is under Russian occupation.
Since the invasion in February 2022, tens of thousands have lost their lives, millions have been displaced, and much of eastern and southern Ukraine has been devastated.
