By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones in a new air attack on Tuesday, authorities said, killing at least three people including a child and triggering emergency power cuts across the country as Ukrainians gear up to celebrate Christmas.
Moscow’s latest combined strike hit energy facilities in western regions the hardest, said Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, and came days after another round of U.S.-led peace talks to end the nearly four-year-old war.
Tuesday’s attack killed two people including a four-year-old in the central Zhytomyr region and one person outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where local officials said at least five were also wounded.
“This Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia’s priorities,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X, adding that it involved more than 30 missiles and 650 drones across at least 13 regions.
“An attack ahead of Christmas, when people simply want to be with their families, at home, and safe.”
POLISH AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT DEPLOYED
Ukraine’s grid operator said most regions were experiencing emergency power outages as a result of the attack. Critical and energy infrastructure was damaged in the northern Chernihiv, western Lviv and southern Odesa regions, local authorities said.
Poland, a NATO member bordering western Ukraine, said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to protect Polish airspace after Russian strikes targeted areas of western Ukraine near the border.
Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian energy and logistics to boost pressure on Kyiv as it seeks to soften the terms of a U.S.-backed deal that could involve painful concessions.
Weekend peace talks in Miami brought together U.S. officials with Ukrainian and European delegations, alongside separate contacts with Russian representatives, as Washington tested the scope for a settlement.
Russia, which is also pressing a battlefield offensive against outnumbered Ukrainian troops, has demanded that Ukraine cede its eastern Donbas region and significantly restrict its military capabilities before it stops fighting.
“Putin still cannot accept that he must stop killing,” Zelenskiy wrote on X.
“And that means that the world is not putting enough pressure on Russia. Now is the time to respond.”
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Dan Peleschuk; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Michael Perry, Philippa Fletcher)
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