Russia strikes Kyiv energy grid before Abu Dhabi talks

Kyiv — Russia battered Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight with drones and ballistic missiles, damaging electricity substations and closing the Northern Bridge over the Dnipro, as residents woke to blackouts, water cuts and near-freezing temperatures, according to Ukrainian officials cited by The Guardian, DW and France 24.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of trying to “plunge Kyiv and the entire country into a blackout” before negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the US meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. He appealed to the US Congress, now under Democratic control after the midterms, not to leave Ukraine alone and said he was counting on increased bilateral support.

Zelenskyy said Russia used 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles. The Guardian reported that substations in five regions were targeted, including one linking two nuclear power plants to Kyiv, while DW and Russia’s defence ministry said damage was also recorded in the neighbouring Zhytomyr region. Moscow said it hit energy and transport targets, claiming the bridge carried military equipment and that the Meridian Plant produced Flamingo cruise missiles; Kyiv says the campaign is aimed at civilians.

The casualty count was not consistent across Saturday’s reports. Ukrainian authorities cited by DW and France 24 said one person was killed and eight wounded; The Guardian cited Zelenskyy saying five people were injured. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, called the power, heating and water situation “extremely difficult”, with overnight temperatures at 0 degrees Celsius. France 24’s correspondent said Chernihiv was left in complete darkness.

The strike fits a pattern since the summer: Russian air attacks on cities have intensified as the ground offensive has stalled, with bridges now added to the target list. Ukrainian officials say the aim is to freeze civilians into submission, which they call a war crime. They have little faith that the US-backed channel will soon produce results, despite a recent six-day truce at Oleshky and the coming Abu Dhabi round.

The political stakes are wider than Kyiv’s grid. Zelenskyy told CNN the latest blueprint from Jared Kushner was “Yalta 2.0”; Donald Trump said a “big, beautiful agreement” involving “all of Europe” could be close. Zelenskyy’s sequence is explicit: end the war first, give Ukraine real guarantees, then consider architecture. The next decision point is whether Abu Dhabi opens with enforceable guarantees or with pressure to trade territory and Nato’s future.