U. S.-backed talks involving Ukraine and Russia are scheduled for February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi, as President Zelenskiy reported on Sunday. Ukrainians face uncertainty over a ceasefire deal with Russia amid extremely cold temperatures while dealing with ongoing air strikes that have severely damaged Ukraine’s energy system. Kyiv is under pressure from the U. S. to find a resolution to the nearly four-year conflict, but previous negotiations in January did not lead to progress on territorial issues, as Russia continues to demand more land from Ukraine.
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that 1,000 apartment buildings were without heating due to a grid malfunction, exacerbated by the freezing weather where temperatures dipped to around -15 degrees Celsius. Workers are urgently trying to restore heating to affected buildings. While officials did not attribute the outages to war damage, recent blackouts have underscored the fragility of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The Kremlin had announced a temporary halt to strikes on energy facilities at the request of U. S. President Donald Trump, with Ukraine agreeing to reciprocate. Despite this, Zelenskiy reported ongoing Russian attacks aimed at disrupting logistics.
In the southeastern city of Dnipro, two people were killed in a drone strike, and six were injured in an attack on a maternity hospital. The weather is expected to worsen further, plunging below -20 degrees Celsius in Kyiv. Ukrainian energy firm DTEK has restored power to many households in Odesa, but planned outages will continue across the country. A local veteran expressed doubt about the peace talks, highlighting the need for continued fighting for victory.
With information from Reuters
