Russia launched overnight attacks on Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring at least 15 others, Ukrainian officials said.
In the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed and four were injured, three of whom were hospitalized. The strikes sparked fires in districts on both sides of the Dnipro River, which divides the city, and disrupted heating and water supplies in parts of eastern Kyiv.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia used a combination of drones and missiles in the assault. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported damage in at least four districts, including to a medical facility.
Kyiv has already endured two mass overnight attacks since the start of the New Year, which knocked out power and heating to hundreds of residential buildings. Emergency crews were still working to restore essential services as temperatures overnight dropped to minus 13 degrees Celsius.
In Kharkiv, a city about 30 kilometers from the Russian border and a frequent target of Russian attacks, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said 25 drones struck several districts over a two and a half hour period. At least 11 people were injured.
In a post on Telegram, Terekhov said the drones hit a dormitory housing displaced people, a hospital, and a maternity hospital.
The latest strikes came as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States concluded the first day of talks in the United Arab Emirates, part of a two day effort aimed at finding a path toward ending the nearly four year war.
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