The Russian government announced on 13th January, four days after its last major drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, that it was launching another attack on the power grid in an apparent snub to the U.S.-led peacekeeping efforts as Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor enters its fourth year.

Overnight, Russia launched nearly 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles, and seven cruise missiles at eight areas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on social media.

In northeastern Kharkiv, a mail depot attack claimed four lives, and many hundreds of thousands of homes were deprived of power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said.

In Kyiv, which has been subjected to frozen conditions for more than two weeks, the daytime temperature dropped to minus 12 degrees celsius (approximately 10 degrees F), and the streets were covered with ice, and the clatter of generators was heard all around the capital.

The power outages in Kyiv have been intense and unpleasant over the past few days, but Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed on Monday night that the strikes that happened caused the largest power outage situation in Kyiv to date.

Over 500 houses were left without central heating on Tuesday. In the city, there were bare trees that were weighed with icicles, and snow was accumulated against the sidewalk.

Olena Davydova, 30, has accused her phone of being charged at what is known as a ”Point of Invincibility” shelter in Dniprovskyi district, Kyiv. The temporary government installations are usually huge tents set up on the sidewalk, where the government offers food, drinks, warmth, and electricity.

Davydova mentioned that she had not had power for almost 50 hours. That compelled her to make a certain new habit: sleeping with her child and two cats in one bed, keeping fresh food on the balcony, and using candles in the dark.

She tells her that she is taking changes in stride. “I still have enough patience. I am not responding to this in a very emotional manner,” she said to The Associated Press.

In other locations, friends and relatives were even going to apartments that were still powered or even had hot water, at least in the short run, to recharge their phones, take a shower, or even have a warm drink.

Klitschko directed the city to serve needy inhabitants with one hot meal per day. He further declared that employees working in the water, heating, and road construction departments in the city would be compensated with bonuses for working day and night to repair damaged infrastructure.

The US decries the Russian inexplicable escalation.

Hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles were also launched by Russia four days ago in a massive overnight raid, and, the second time in the war, Russia dropped a powerful new hypersonic missile that hit western Ukraine, a clear signal, it seems, to the NATO allies of Kyiv that it is not retreating.

On Monday, the U.S. charged Russia with a perilous and unexplained escalation of the conflict at a time when the Trump administration is making efforts to progress peace talks.

The U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Tammy Bruce, informed in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington is outraged by the number of casualties in the conflict and condemns escalating assaults by Russia on the energy and other infrastructures.

During the course of the war, Russia has attempted to deprive Ukrainian civilians of heat and running water in the hope that it will exhaust popular opposition to the full-scale invasion by Moscow, which broke out on Feb. 24, 2022. The Ukrainian officials refer to this as “weaponizing winter.”

The Kharkiv region of Ukraine was also injured by the attack, which injured 10 people, local authorities said.

In Odesa city in the south, six individuals were injured in the attack, according to Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The attacks destroyed power infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an education institution, and several residential buildings, he said.

The year 2025 proved the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians

According to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, last year was the most lethal year for civilians since 2022 as Russia stepped up its aerial attacks behind the battle line.

It claimed that the war resulted in the death of 2,514 civilians and 12,142 civilian injuries, which is 31 percent more than in 2024.

“The rapid growth of long-range attacks and the fact that Ukraine now targets national energy infrastructure allow the war to be experienced by civilians way beyond the front line, as the agency head,” Danielle Bell, said in a statement Monday.

Zelenskyy reported that Ukraine is awaiting faster shipments of previously agreed-upon air defense equipment by the U.S and Europe and new promises of assistance to deal with the recent wave of assaults by Russia.

In the meantime, Russian air defense shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian Defence Ministry announced on Tuesday. Seven have been reportedly destroyed within the Rostov region of Russia, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar attested to an assault on the coastal city of Taganrog, approximately 40 kilometers (approximately 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in the latest long-range assault on Russian war-related facilities by Kyiv.

The military of Ukraine claimed to strike a drone manufacturing plant in Taganrog. Molniya drones and parts of Orion unmanned aerial vehicles are designed, manufactured, and tested at the Atlanta Aero plant as per the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Reports of explosions and a fire were received at the site, and damage to production buildings was confirmed, the General Staff said.