Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sharply criticized Russia following drone and missile strikes that killed at least five people and wounded 39 others, with the attacks occurring shortly before a brief Russian-declared truce was set to take hold, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Zelenskyy described the strikes as an example of Russia's "utter cynicism," condemning what he characterized as deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure carried out in the hours preceding the announced ceasefire period.
Ukrainian officials said the strikes were aimed at the country's power grid, continuing a pattern of attacks on energy infrastructure that have periodically left millions of Ukrainians without heat and electricity, particularly during colder months.
Strikes before the ceasefire
The timing of the attacks drew particular condemnation from Kyiv, coming as Russia had put forward a short-term truce proposal. Ukrainian officials and Zelenskyy used the sequence of events to argue that Moscow's ceasefire gestures lacked sincerity.
Russia has periodically announced limited ceasefires during the war, including pauses tied to religious holidays, though Ukrainian officials have frequently disputed whether Russian forces have honored those commitments on the ground.
Ongoing toll on civilians
The strikes add to a mounting civilian toll from Russia's continued aerial campaign against Ukraine. Attacks on energy infrastructure have been a recurring feature of the war, with Ukrainian emergency crews and engineers repeatedly working to restore power following damage to substations, transmission lines, and generation facilities.
Ukraine has called on Western allies to provide additional air defense systems to counter the volume of drones and missiles Russia has deployed, arguing that current defenses are insufficient to fully protect critical infrastructure.
Russian officials have not publicly responded to Zelenskyy's specific comments about the strikes, according to reporting by ABC News, which cited Ukrainian authorities as the source of casualty figures and details about the attacks.
The war, now in its fourth year following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions. Diplomatic efforts to negotiate a lasting ceasefire have so far failed to produce a durable agreement.
