A Russian overnight drone attack sent explosions across Kyiv early Sunday and sparked a fire at a non-residential building, Kyiv officials said. The reported strike came as the capital is still struggling to restore heating to large parts of the city after earlier attacks damaged critical infrastructure, according to city and national officials.
Kyiv residents heard several blasts around 1:30 a.m. local time, according to a journalist in the city. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, later reported a fire at an unspecified non-residential building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district.
Fire reported after overnight drones
Officials said Russia launched a wave of drones toward Kyiv overnight on Jan. 12, and a building in the city was struck. The fire was reported at a non-residential site in the Solomianskyi district, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show a large fire coming from the building, the Kyiv Independent reported. Officials did not immediately provide details on the extent of damage or report casualties in connection with the fire.
Heating still out in parts of Kyiv
The overnight attack came as Kyiv continues to deal with heat outages following a large-scale Russian strike overnight on Jan. 9, according to the Kyiv Independent. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko previously urged residents who could do so to leave the city after a Jan. 9 attack left half of Kyiv’s apartment buildings without heating, the outlet reported.
As of early Jan. 11, more than 1,000 buildings in Kyiv still had no heat, according to the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said significant improvements in the energy supply situation are expected by Jan. 15, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The Kyiv Independent also reported that the Jan. 9 mass missile and drone strike killed at least four people and injured 25 others in Kyiv, while severely damaging critical infrastructure. The outlet said Russia has also targeted regional centers in eastern and southern Ukraine in recent days, including power losses reported in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions on the evening of Jan. 7 and further outages overnight on Jan. 11.
Citywide power and heat disruptions
Local authorities said more than 1,000 apartment buildings in Kyiv remained without heating after a major Russian attack earlier in the week. Reuters reported that a missile strike on Friday left virtually the entire city without power and heating during a sharp cold snap, and that water supplies were restored and electricity and heating were partially restored by Sunday.
Kyiv’s mayor described the situation as difficult while repair work continued. “Restoration work is ongoing. However, the energy supply situation in the capital remains very difficult,” Klitschko said in a Telegram post quoted by Reuters.
Reuters also quoted Klitschko as saying harsh cold was expected to continue, meaning the city’s problems would likely persist. The same report said temperatures had already dropped below minus 12 degrees Celsius and were expected to fall to minus 20 degrees later in the week.
Wider pressure on Ukraine’s grid
Russia has stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s energy system since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Reuters reported. The report said the damage to the power grid has pushed utilities close to their limits, adding to concerns about how the country will cope during what Reuters called the war’s fourth winter.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said Russian forces attacked the power system again overnight, briefly cutting off electricity to the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said 44 attacks on energy facilities and critical infrastructure were recorded, Reuters reported.
