Russia launched around 600 drones and dozens of missiles targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, killing at least three people, including a four-year-old child, on Tuesday.
“This Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia’s priorities. The attack was carried out essentially in the midst of negotiations aimed at ending this war,” a Ukrainian official said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that energy facilities in the western part of the country suffered the most damage during the overnight attack, according to Reuters. Russian defence ministry also confirmed the attack during a press conference on Tuesday.
Russian strike in Odesa
In a separate incident, a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa, southern Ukraine, killed eight people and wounded 27 others, Ukraine’s emergency services said on Saturday.
The attack occurred as a Kremlin envoy was preparing to travel to Florida for talks on a US proposed plan to end the nearly four-year war.
Putin claims Russian troops are advancing on all fronts
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised what he described as progress by Russian forces in Ukraine, claiming that Ukrainian troops were retreating.
Speaking at a year-end press conference in Moscow, Putin said, “Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact—faster in some areas, slower in others—but the enemy is retreating in all sectors.”
“I’m sure that before the end of this year, we will still witness new successes,” he added. As per the Russian Defence Ministry, Russian forces have also taken control of Andriivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region and Prylipka in the Kharkiv region
Putin also said that Ukraine lacked readiness for a peace deal but noted that there were “certain signals” suggesting both sides could engage in dialogue.
He emphasised that Russia’s conditions for ending the war remain unchanged from those he outlined in June 2024.
“The only thing I want to say is that we have always said this: we are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully, based on the principles I outlined last June at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by addressing the root causes that led to this crisis,” Putin said.
