Russia blasts an end to the winter truce with Ukraine

Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv

The aftermath of a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine Source: Getty / Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images

Russia has ended a winter truce that had it and Ukraine agreeing not to attack each other's energy facilities. The 450-drone and 70-missiles attack comes on the eve of another scheduled round of peace talks.


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TRANSCRIPT:

The missiles are flying again ... and so are the accusations.

A Russian attack, featuring both ballistic missiles and drones, has hit Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv, in the middle of a very cold winter, with temperatures of around minus-20 degrees Celsius.

It's left many Ukrainians freezing.

It's left their President, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, seething.

"Today there was a record Russian strike, a heavy strike, in terms of the use of ballistics. Anti-record, I would say.  There were 28 cruise missiles, as well as 43 different types of missiles, which are aimed at the ballistic trajectory and can only be shot down by the Patriot systems. ... We believe that this Russian strike is really violating what was agreed by the American side, and there should be consequences of this."

It marks the end of a seven-day energy truce that Mr Zelenskyy says was essentially a sham.

Mr Zelenskyy is accusing Russia of flouting the ceasefire, using that time to stockpile weapons to fire at Ukraine.

If Mr Zelenskyy was looking for a particularly strong response from the United States to the latest Russian attack, he hasn't yet received it.

US President Donald Trump has pointed out his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, did at least technically stick to the terms of the seven-day truce.

He says he's just grateful there's been any sort of temporary cessation of the conflict, which has now been going for nearly four years.

"It was Sunday to Sunday, and it opened up, and he hit 'em hard last night. No, he kept his word on that, it's a lot, you know, one week is, we'll take anything, because it's really, really cold over there, but it was on Sunday and he went from Sunday to Sunday."

REPORTER: "Are you disappointed he didn't go further?"

TRUMP: " Yeah, I would like him to, I want him to end the war.”

At least 12 people were wounded in the latest attacks.

A power plant in Kyiv's eastern suburbs has been seriously damaged, and officials are trying to figure out to how to redeploy resources to warm people up.

Officials say more than 1,100 buildings in Kyiv remain without heating.

Experts say it's been the coldest January in years in Ukraine.

Mr Zelenskyy is getting some stronger support from closer to home, in the form of the former Dutch Prime Minister turned NATO Secretary-General, Mark Rutte.

He's made a surprise visit to Ukraine, as the warring parties head to Abu Dhabi for a second round of trilateral peace talks, also involving the US, this week.

With Ukraine under pressure from the US to agree to a peace deal, Mr Rutte says he thinks Ukraine wants peace, but the latest Russian strikes makes him wonder again whether Russia truly wants it.

"I think the president of Ukraine is absolutely ready to play ball, to come to a deal with the Russians, which has to be of course acceptable for all parties, and particularly of course for Ukraine, no doubt. But of course this starts you to question, makes you question, whether the Russians are serious. And let's hope they are. And I know the American President is doing everything he can to bring this terrible war to an end with his team, and I commend him for that. He's the only one who's able to do that. But last night - it's a really bad signal."

But Mr Rutte is also optimistic Russia can be forced to the negotiating table by the brutal realities of this war, which he says Russia is not winning - militarily, economically, or diplomatically.

"We know Russia is paying a heavy price for this war, with over one million casualties to date and rising. Yet, despite Putin's willingness to sacrifice countless of his own people, he is not winning. Any gains on the battlefield are grindingly slow. And while China, North Korea, Iran, and Belarus continue to support Russia's war machine, Putin's economy is suffering the impact of isolation, and increasing pressure on Russia's shadow fleet is beginning to bite."

Ukraine is resisting Russian demands that it cede the remaining 20 per cent of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine that Russia has so far been unable to capture.

Ukraine says at the talks in Abu Dhabi, it will first hold talks with the US only, to discuss US security guarantees for any peace deal, and a post-war reconstruction package.

Only after that will it have any trilateral meeting involving Russia.


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