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Russian strikes hit Ukraine power plant 46,000 people in Mykolaiv left in freezing cold; US moving ahead with Russia on peace talks

AGENCIES

Russian drone strikes have damaged a thermal power plant in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine overnight, leaving 46,000 consumers without heating as temperatures plunge below freezing, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said yesterday.

“This was done deliberately to leave people without heat in sub-zero temperatures and create a humanitarian catastrophe,” Shmyhal said on the Telegram messenger app.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 143 drones overnight but Ukrainian military said it had shot down 95 of them while 46 did not reach their targets, likely thanks to the use of electromagnetic countermeasures that disrupt drone attacks.

At least one person was injured in the drone attacks that also damaged houses in the Kyiv region. Five apartment buildings and several shop and office spaces were damaged as a result of falling drone debris, reports Reuters.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in Ukraine on Saturday, as well as the removal of “unilateral barriers” set by the previous US administration, Moscow said.

US and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to start talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a US lawmaker and a source familiar with the planning said. However, Ukrainian officials will not attend Russia-US talks expected to be held in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, the BBC has learned.

European leaders on Saturday also scrambled to force their way to the table for any talks on the Ukraine war. France said yesterday it would host a summit of European leaders today to discuss the Ukraine war and European security.

In Munich, Nato chief Mark Rutte said Europe had to come up with “good proposals” for securing peace in Ukraine if it wanted to be involved in US-led talks.Rutte also said he would head to Paris today to take part in the meeting of the European leaders.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Europe “must take on a greater role in Nato” and work with the United States to “secure Ukraine’s future”.