President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of attempting to, in his words, "plunge Kyiv and the entire country into a blackout" after a large overnight attack on energy infrastructure in the capital and on a bridge crossing the Dnipro River.
Zelenskyy said Moscow's idea of preparing for peace talks scheduled for next week was to bombard a city of millions with ballistic missiles. Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are expected to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for discussions aimed at ending the war.
The Ukrainian leader also appealed to the US Congress, which was won by the Democrats in the midterm elections, to give Ukraine greater attention amid relentless Russian bombardment. "Ukraine must not be left alone. We are counting on increased bilateral support from the US," he said.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia deployed 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles in its latest assault on Kyiv and the surrounding regions. The capital faced serious problems with electricity, water and heat supplies, and five people were injured, among them a 14-year-old girl.
The strikes hit substations in five regions, including one that links two nuclear power plants to Kyiv. The city's Northern Bridge, a vital transport artery, was closed on Saturday while crews repaired damage to the road surface and power lines.
The attack rounded off a grim week for Kyiv's residents, who had already endured day-long power cuts and interruptions to water supplies. Ukrainian officials say the Kremlin intends to freeze civilians into submission during the harsh winter months, which they describe as a war crime.
Officials in Kyiv hold little hope that the US-backed talks will produce concrete results. In an interview with CNN, Zelenskyy called the latest proposal from Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, "Yalta 2.0", a reference to the 1945 summit where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill divided postwar Europe.
In a series of social media posts, Kushner said the discussions would cover a new security framework for Europe along with guarantees for Ukraine, language that appears to echo the Kremlin's longstanding demand that Nato's expansion across Europe be rolled back. Speaking on Friday, Trump said a "big beautiful agreement" involving "all of Europe" could be close. Shortly before invading Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin demanded that Nato return to its pre-1997 posture, before the Baltic states and countries in eastern Europe and the Balkans joined.
Ukraine and its European partners remain deeply sceptical. "The idea of discussing European-Russian security infrastructure is not simple, and it can be dangerous," Zelenskyy told CNN, adding: "We don't want to be divided by Russia." He said Moscow must first end its war and grant Ukraine meaningful security guarantees, after which, "depending on the answers", a broader security architecture could be discussed. Western diplomats warn that accepting Russia's demands would effectively spell the end of Nato.
Russia's defence ministry said its strikes in the early hours of Saturday were aimed at energy and transport targets. Since the summer, Moscow has sharply intensified air attacks on Ukrainian cities as its progress on the frontline has stalled. According to Kyiv, Russia lost 54,000 troops killed or injured last month, the highest monthly figure of the war.
