Russian air strikes hit several regions across Ukraine, killing several people and damaging an energy facility in the southern port city of Odesa and knocking out power in Kharkiv as the country struggles through blackouts and heating outages amid a deep winter freeze.
Odesa regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said the city was hit by a large-scale drone attack leaving one man dead and at least 23 people, including children and a pregnant woman, injured. He added that several apartment buildings were damaged, triggering major fires, while a church in the city center and a kindergarten were also hit.
'Brutal' Attack On Odesa
A married couple in their 40s were reportedly killed in Slovyansk in the eastern Donetsk region, while in another drone attack in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya a 58-year-old was killed at home.
"A brutal drone attack on Odesa," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"Every such Russian strike erodes the diplomacy that is still ongoing and undermines the efforts of partners who are helping to end this war," he added.
Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to resume negotiations in Abu Dhabi later this week after what officials said were "constructive" peace talks last weekend, even as the war shows no signs of easing as it nears its four-year anniversary.
Nor are there any signs the Kremlin is backing down from its long-held maximalist demands.
Russia has been attempting to push westward through eastern Ukraine to gain as much ground as possible amid peace negotiations. Much of its gains have been in the Donetsk region, although it has kept the pressure on the Kharkiv region, as well.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said on January 27 that Ukraine's withdrawal from the Donbas region -- Ukraine's industrial heartland -- was "the path to peace."
But for the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians, giving up the Donbas -- which Russia currently controls around 90 percent of -- or any other territory formally or permanently is out of the question.
Unprecedented Energy Blackouts
This winter has been miserable for millions of Ukrainians suffering at the hands of unprecedented energy blackouts caused by relentless, and targeted, Russian drone and missile strikes that have severely damaged heating and electricity infrastructure across the country.
Since at least January 9, which saw the worst Russian barrage of the new year, emergency crews have raced to keep pace with the destruction wrought by Russian attacks: substations damaged, power-line pylons toppled, heating and hot water pipes ruptured, plants shut down.
Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian strikes overnight on January 27 cut electricity supplies to roughly 80 percent of the city of Kharkiv and surrounding areas.
NetBlocks, a digital rights watchdog and connectivity monitoring organization, reported an Internet disruption in Kharkiv following the Russian attack.
In western Ukraine, an infrastructure facility in the Lviv region was damaged in a Russian attack, according to regional Governor Maksym Kozytskiy.
He did not specify the type of facility targeted but said emergency services were working at the scene.
Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians in Ukraine despite widespread evidence to the contrary since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.
