The thermometer read -20ºC when at 00:24 at night the air raid sirens cleared the inhabitants of kyiv from doubting whether it was still standing five days earlier. The explosions that began to be heard half an hour later and continued throughout the early hours confirmed that Russia was launching another major attack against the country this Tuesday, on the coldest night of the year, which is approaching its fifth year.
US President Donald Trump said last Thursday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had committed not to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure for a week. Moscow later confirmed that conversation, but pointed to Sunday, February 1 as the deadline. That is, four days and not a week.
The coldest days of the polar vortex that hits the northern hemisphere were expected from that Sunday to Thursday. The population survives the extreme temperatures of this winter with water, electricity and gas cuts that in some cases last for weeks. Moscow has systematically battered Ukrainian energy infrastructure since the beginning of the large-scale invasion in 2022.
As the fourth anniversary of the start of the war approaches, the facilities are in critical condition. , also. As they listened to the explosions, many wondered how many more days without water, electricity or heating the new attack was going to leave them. Hundreds of residential buildings in the capital had yet to recover from the latest, massive blackout on Saturday.
In Ukraine they interpreted Moscow’s promise of a truce as a simple pause to prepare for a new attack, without being clear how long it would last. kyiv pledged not to fire on the Russian energy sector either. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that in the last 24 hours, there had been attacks on energy facilities in towns on the front and border with Russia, but that there had been no missile or drone bomb attacks on energy infrastructure. A day earlier, on Sunday, the country’s largest energy company, and killed 12 of its occupants. If there were doubts about whether the truce was over, Moscow finished clearing them up a few hours later.
kyiv hoped for a de-escalation to support diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. This Tuesday’s attack occurred while the Ukrainian delegation was traveling to Abu Dhabi to celebrate with the United States and Russia this Wednesday and Thursday. Also, hours before the planned visit to kyiv by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, when Ukraine cries out to allies for more anti-aircraft defenses.
