Work underway to restore electricity to 500,000 in Kyiv after Russian attacks
Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s prime minister, has said that work is under way to restore electricity supplies to more than 500,000 consumers in Kyiv after Russian drone and missile attacks that damaged energy infrastructure.
Russian troops deliberately hit district energy facilities required for heating, Ms Svyrydenko said on Telegram, adding that it was “energy terrorism and an attempt to turn winter into a weapon”.
Temperatures in the capital Kyiv plunged to about -10 degrees Celsius on Friday.
Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Kyiv (Reuters)
Alex Croft9 January 2026 10:09
Qatar’s embassy in Kyiv damaged during attacks on Ukraine, says Zelensky
A Russian drone damaged the Qatar embassy building in the capital Kyiv during overnight attacks on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
Zelensky said on the Telegram app that Qatar was helping to mediate talks with Russia on exchanging prisoners of war.
Alex Croft9 January 2026 09:47
Europe must take immediate action, says Ukrainian foreign minister
We can bring you more from Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, who earlier warned Russia’s use of an Oreshnik missile marked a “grave threat” to Europeean security.
He has also called on international partners to take immediate action increasing pressure on Moscow following the latest attack.
“New rounds of tough sanctions to deprive Russia of resources for terror and war,” Mr Sybiha wrote in a post on X. “New packages of defence assistance for Ukraine to better protect our people and push back the invaders. New steps to ensure accountability for Russian crimes.”
He also called for “strong” public condemndation of the attack, “especially from those who recently responded with concerns to the fake ‘Putin residence attack’.”
Foreign affairs minister of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha (PA Archive)
Alex Croft9 January 2026 09:29
Zelensky warns Russia is ‘betting on winter warfare’ as new attack loomsZelensky warns Russia is ‘betting on winter warfare’ as new attack looms
Alex Croft9 January 2026 09:11
The Oreshnik, whose name means Hazel Tree, is an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile that Russia has fired only once before against Ukraine, in November 2024.
On that occasion it was equipped only with dummy warheads and therefore caused limited damage, Ukrainian sources said, in what was effectively a test.
If the overnight attack carried explosive warheads, it would mark the first time that Russia has used the Oreshnik with full destructive intent. The strike targeted what Russia called critical infrastructure in Ukraine, though the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.
A Russia’s Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service)
Experts say the novel feature of the Oreshnik is that it can carry multiple warheads capable of simultaneously striking different targets – usually associated with longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
The missile is based on the RS-26 Rubezh, which Russia had originally developed as an intercontinental missile.
Like many Russian weapons systems, it is capable of carrying nuclear as well as conventional warheads, but there was no suggestion of any nuclear component to the overnight attack.
Alex Croft9 January 2026 08:53
In pictures: Kyiv apartment building suffers damage in Russian attack
A man stands near a damaged residential building following a Russian attack in Kyiv (AFP via Getty Images)
Russia fired more than 240 drones and missiles overnight (AFP via Getty Images)
Russian forces also fired an Oreshnik missile at western Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)
Alex Croft9 January 2026 08:35
Russia claims it was targeting facilities which supported alleged strike on Putin residence
The Russian Defence Ministry said the strike had targeted critical infrastucture in Ukraine which had supported an alleged strike on Vladimir Putin’s residence.
It said Russia had also used attack drones and high-precision long-range land and sea-based weapons.
“The strike’s targets were hit. The targets included facilities producing unmanned aerial vehicles used in the terrorist attack [allegedly against the Putin residence], as well as energy infrastructure supporting Ukraine’s military-industrial complex,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine has called the Russian allegation that its drones tried to attack one of Putin’s residences in the Novogorod region at the end of December “an absurd lie” designed to sabotage already troubled peace talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t believe the strike on the residence happened, but that “something” unrelated happened fairly nearby.
Alex Croft9 January 2026 08:14
Oreshnik strike a grave threat to European security, says Ukrainian foreign minister
Russia’s overnight Oreshnik missile strike close to the European Union and Nato border is a ‘grave threat’ to European security, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday, calling on partners to increase pressure on Moscow.
Mr Sybiha said that Kyiv was informing the United States, European partners, and other countries about the details of the strike through diplomatic channels.
“[Vladimir] Putin uses an IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile) near EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations — this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses,” he said.
Alex Croft9 January 2026 07:56
UK and Nato’s nuclear threat not enough to deter Putin, ex-military chief warns
The UK and its Nato allies must upgrade their military capabilities if the coalition of the willing in Ukraine is to be a successful deterrence against Vladimir Putin, a former military chief has warned.
In a damning report for the Policy Exchange think tank, Sir Jock Stirrup, a former Royal Air Force commander and chief of defence staff, said the UK has been hamstrung by an “outdated nuclear doctrine” and needs to recognise that deterrence relies “on a spectrum of capabilities, not just nuclear weapons themselves”.
It recommends that the UK and its allies restart large-scale military exercises with a nuclear element to demonstrate that there could be a “slide” into full nuclear war as a “cognitive deterrence” to Russia, China and others.
The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:
Alex Croft9 January 2026 07:35
Watch: Kyiv and Lviv struck by drones and missiles after Zelensky warns of ‘massive’ attackKyiv and Lviv struck by drones and missiles after Zelensky warns of ‘massive’ attack
Arpan Rai9 January 2026 07:16