Two killed, dozens wounded in large Russian drone attacks across Ukraine 

Two people have been killed and dozens injured in overnight Russian drone attacks across Ukraine, where strikes on energy infrastructure have caused power outages in freezing temperatures, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In a social media post on Sunday, Zelenskyy said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions were targeted in an attack that included more than 200 drones.

“The situation in the energy system remains difficult, but we are doing everything we can to restore all services as quickly as possible,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding: “This week alone has seen more than 1,300 attack drones, around 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types in total.”

Zelenskyy also issued another call to world leaders.

“That is why Ukraine still needs more protection – above all, more missiles for air defense systems. If Russia is deliberately dragging out the diplomatic process, the world’s response must be decisive: more assistance for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor.”

The strikes come a day after Ukrainian negotiators arrived in the United States for talks with President Donald Trump’s administration on how to end the nearly four-year conflict with Russia. They were expected to focus on security guarantees and Ukraine’s post-war recovery.

Ukraine and the US have drafted a 20-point peace proposal, but Russia has yet to comment on it as Washington’s efforts to end the fighting have so far failed to achieve an agreement.

The Russian government has made several demands over the past months, including territorial concessions and assurances that Ukraine won’t seek NATO membership.

Ukraine is also facing an acute energy crisis due to continuous Russian bombardment this winter.

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that imports of electricity and additional power equipment must be accelerated as the capital, Kyiv, and the Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions have been particularly hard hit by power outages.

The Ukrainian government has declared an energy emergency as the damaged power grid is meeting only 60 percent of the country’s electricity needs.

The situation has also been exacerbated by exceptionally cold temperatures, leaving families across Ukraine struggling to stay warm.

Since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022, Russia has routinely targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter, seeking to put pressure on Ukrainian leaders to agree to Moscow’s demands.

The United Nations and other observers have condemned this year’s Russian assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, stressing that children and the elderly are most vulnerable.

On Sunday, more than 200,000 consumers in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhia were left without electricity after a Ukrainian drone strike on Saturday, Moscow-installed Governor Yevgeny Balitsky said.

In a statement posted on Telegram, Balitsky said work was ongoing to restore the power supply but almost 400 settlements remained without electricity.

Temperatures are well below freezing throughout the southeastern region, about 75 percent of which is controlled by Russia.