Russia batters Ukraine’s power grid as winter strikes return

Russia launched a fresh wave of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and across Ukraine’s energy network early on Tuesday, 23 December, triggering emergency power outages and prompting NATO member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace — just two days after US-led peace talks in Miami ended without a breakthrough.

The attacks came as Washington tested the waters for a negotiated settlement to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. The weekend meetings in Miami brought together US officials with Ukrainian and European delegations, alongside separate contacts with Russian representatives, underscoring the diplomatic push even as fighting on the ground shows no sign of abating.

By 0620 GMT (11.30 am IST), air raid alerts were in force across almost the entire country, according to Ukraine’s air force. In the capital Kyiv, debris fell near a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district, shattering windows, mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post on Telegram.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said emergency power outages were imposed in several regions, including Kyiv and the surrounding area, after Russian forces again targeted energy facilities. Such strikes have become a defining feature of the conflict, particularly during the winter months.

Over successive cold seasons, Moscow has repeatedly intensified attacks on power plants, substations and transmission lines, seeking to knock out electricity and heating, disrupt industry and logistics, and pile pressure on civilians and the Ukrainian economy at a time of peak vulnerability.

Tuesday’s barrage followed that familiar pattern. Officials said the outages were precautionary and aimed at stabilising the grid amid damage from the strikes, even as repair crews were dispatched under air raid conditions.

The regional fallout was immediate. Poland said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to secure its airspace after Russian missiles and drones struck western Ukrainian regions close to the border. “These measures are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace,” Poland’s operational command said in a statement on X.

Warsaw routinely places its air defences and fighter jets on heightened alert during major Russian missile-and-drone barrages on western Ukraine, particularly when trajectories are assessed to pose a heightened risk near Polish territory.

The escalation also unfolded against a backdrop of mounting tension inside Russia itself. On Monday, a senior Russian military officer was killed when a car bomb exploded, an incident that has sent shockwaves through Moscow’s security establishment.

While Russian authorities have yet to publicly link the attack to the war in Ukraine, the killing of a general so far from the front lines has underscored the increasingly volatile and unpredictable nature of the conflict, even as diplomatic efforts continue in parallel.

Together, the overnight strikes, the strain on Ukraine’s winter power supply, and the deadly attack inside Russia highlight the sharp contrast between tentative peace feelers and an intensifying war that continues to exact costs well beyond the battlefield.

With agency inputs