Several Ukrainian regions faced power outages amid bitter winter weather on Tuesday after Russia launched its latest deadly large-scale attack with drones and missiles, officials said.
Neighboring Poland deployed jets to protect its airspace during the attacks, the country’s military said in a post on Twitter.
“Russia is once again attacking our energy infrastructure. As a result, emergency power cuts have been introduced in a number of Ukrainian regions,” Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s electricity operator, Ukrainergo, said fires broke out in several areas as a result of “massive missile and drone strikes”, as temperatures dropped towards zero across much of the country.
Local authorities said one person died in the western region of Khmelnytskyi and another died in Kiev.
According to local officials, several people, including children, were injured in several areas.
Russia has stepped up its attacks on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa over the past several days in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to completely destroy maritime logistics.
The latest attacks caused fires in the Black Sea city but there were no casualties, emergency services said Tuesday.
Russian attacks on Black Sea regions have intensified, attacking bridges, ports and cutting power and heating to thousands of people in the middle of winter.
The latest attacks followed weekend talks the US held with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Miami as part of its effort to end the war that began when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
“Slow progress is being seen,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by state media, adding that Russia and Ukraine had sent negotiators to the Florida city for separate talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law and adviser.
Witkoff praised “constructive” discussions with both sides, but there were no signs of a breakthrough.
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