Russian forces launched a new massive attack on Kyiv and several regions across Ukraine, hitting residential buildings and energy sites amid freezing temperatures, sparking outrage as world leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strikes caused power, water, and heating outages in the Ukrainian capital, which had already been suffering with massive cuts to utilities.
"Civilians are bearing the brunt of these attacks," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement distributed in Geneva on January 20 in response to news of the strikes.
"They can only be described as cruel. They must stop. Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a clear breach of the rules of warfare."
Block Parties, Street Barbecues In Kyiv As Russia Targets Energy Grid
As of early January 20, 5,635 apartment buildings were without heat, Klitschko said, as temperatures dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Nearly 80 percent of the affected buildings had only recently seen the restoration of heating after a Russian strike last week.
As a result of the overnight attack on energy facilities in the capital, more than 335,000 Kyiv residents were left without electricity, DTEK, Ukraine's largest private utility company, said in a statement.
Russia has been accused of weaponizing weather by targeting electricity grids and power stations, aiming to cut off heat and electricity for millions as Ukraine faces its coldest winter in years.
SEE ALSO: Freezing Temperatures, Fraying Nerves: Russian Attacks Weaponize Winter In UkraineRussia's Defense Ministry issued a statement on January 20 saying the overnight attack was "in response to Ukraine's terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia."
It did not specify which Russian targets were hit, and added that the strikes in Ukraine targeted military industry enterprises, as well as energy and transport infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia has consistently claimed it does not target civilian infrastructure, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Moscow claims strikes on utilities are legitimate targets because they are used by Ukraine's military.
SEE ALSO: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Now Longer Than Soviet War Against HitlerUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian strikes involved a "significant number of ballistic and cruise missiles," as well as more than 300 attack drones.
Zelenskyy said the most difficult situation for now is in Kyiv, where a significant number of residential buildings are without heating.
"It is important that the world does not remain silent about this," he wrote on X, adding that "Russia cannot be on an equal footing with other countries in the world as long as it is focused solely on killing and tormenting people."
Zelenskyy told reporters on January 20 that he will remain in Kyiv to focus on urgent energy issues in Ukraine following Russian strikes instead of going to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he was scheduled to speak.
"But everything can change at any moment," he said, adding he might still go to the Swiss Alpine resort if the "prosperity plan and security guarantees" -- documents aimed at Ukraine's economic recovery and future security -- are ready to be signed.
Zelenskyy said that, if that happens, he is confident there will be a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump, who is due to arrive at Davos later on January 20.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said the Russian attacks on energy infrastructure should be a priority on the agenda for world leaders convening at the World Economic Forum.
Russian leader Vladimir "Putin's barbaric strike this morning is a wake up call to world leaders gathering in Davos: support for the Ukrainian people is urgent; there will be no peace in Europe without a lasting peace for Ukraine," Sybiha wrote in a post on X.
"Several Ukrainian electrical substations vital for nuclear safety were affected by widespread military activity this morning," the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on January 20.
"The IAEA is actively following developments in order to assess impact on nuclear safety," he added.
Sybiha commented on Grossi's statement, saying, "Russia's reckless attacks threaten nuclear safety."
"Russia is systematically attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure to create blackout risks for nuclear facilities -- including the Chornobyl site and other NPPs [nuclear power plants]," Sybiha added.
Ukrainian officials have warned the impact on the energy system could worsen in the coming weeks.
Andriy Herus, head of the Ukrainian parliament's Energy, Housing, and Communal Services Committee, admits the coming weeks will be tough for all unless the deep freeze breaks and longer days and clear skies help generate more solar power.
"The next 30 days will be difficult for us. I sometimes hear that from that point on or from a week after that point it will get better, but then at the end of such statements they add in small letters: 'provided that there is no new shelling.' But with a high probability there will be new Russian shelling," Herus told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on January 19.