Russian Long-Range Attacks Dip in January, Batter Ukraine Grid

Russia fired fewer drones and missiles at Ukraine last month, AFP analysis of data from Kyiv’s air force published Monday showed, but still crippled Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and pushed the country towards a humanitarian crisis.

The most serious electricity, heating and water outages of the nearly four-year war came in January as the Kremlin battered Ukraine with 4,452 long-range drones – a 13-percent decrease from December – and 135 missiles, a 23-percent decrease on the previous month.

US President Donald Trump, who is pushing the sides to agree a peace deal through the first trilateral talks of the war, had last week raised hopes – briefly – for a partial ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, announcing a temporary halt to strikes on energy facilities.

Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had agreed to pause attacks on Kyiv “and other cities” as temperatures dipped towards minus 20C, but the Kremlin announced that the reported week-long change in tactics had almost already expired.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow had just switched its attacks to targeting logistics, particularly railway infrastructure, and frontline areas.

Over recent weeks Zelensky has complained that vital air defence systems supplied by Western allies were running out of ammunition, leaving Ukraine’s critical infrastructure increasingly vulnerable.

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Out of 4,587 drones and missiles Ukraine’s air force said were launched by Russia during January, the country’s patchwork network of air defence systems downed 3,788 of the projectiles, or 83 percent.

That was up slightly from 80 percent recorded in December.

Ukrainian officials have said the capital -- home to more than three million people -- was worst hit by the outages, forcing residents to seek warmth and electricity at hundreds of emergency tents set up by authorities.