The “energy truce” reportedly has ended as Russia has resumed strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said during a briefing.
“As a result of the enemy’s attacks on energy infrastructure, residents in Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions are without power,” he said, adding that restoration work is ongoing at the damaged energy facilities.
Nekrasov told the briefing that Kyiv and its surrounding region are experiencing a capacity shortage. The capital will return to hourly outage schedules once the power system stabilizes.
“Due to severe weather conditions, more than 160 settlements in Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kirovohrad regions remain without electricity,” he said, adding that regional energy workers are restoring damaged lines around the clock.
“In some regions, emergency power outages are necessary due to the difficult situation in the power system. Once the situation stabilizes, consumers will return to the planned hourly schedules,” the deputy minister said.
Ukraine has no official ceasefire with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 30, but Kyiv indicated it was ready to observe a reciprocal halt on energy strikes if Moscow stopped attacking first.
“This is not an agreement. It is an opportunity,” Zelensky said. “If Russia does not strike us, we will not strike back.”
The comments followed US President Donald Trump’s statement that he personally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to temporarily halt strikes on Kyiv and other cities, and that the Russian dictator agreed.
Zelensky thanked Trump for his efforts but cautioned that only developments on the ground would show whether any pause is real.
“The real situation at our energy facilities and in our cities over these days will show this,” he said.
The Kremlin claimed on Jan. 30 that Putin had agreed to halt strikes on energy targets in Kyiv for a week – ending Sunday, Feb. 1, following a request from Trump.
“I can say that President Trump did indeed make a personal request to President Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia did conduct multiple strikes on civilian targets in other regions during this period.
Moscow added that the request was intended to support Washington-led negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump said he asked Putin to pause attacks on the Ukrainian capital and surrounding areas due to extreme cold weather.
Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid have left entire districts without heating, with temperatures in Kyiv expected to drop lower, to around -30°C in the coming days, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.
Previous attempts at energy truces, including a 30-day moratorium negotiated by Trump in spring 2025 and Zelensky’s December 2025 proposal, failed to produce lasting results, with the Kremlin claiming it seeks “stable, guaranteed, long-term peace,” and is thus unwilling to adapt temporary measures to stop the violence.