Ukraine's top diplomat publicly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering a large-scale attack while delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were in Abu Dhabi for talks brokered by Washington. The comment followed waves of strikes that hit the country early on Saturday, inflicting civilian casualties and severe damage to energy networks.
"This barbaric attack once again proves that Putin’s place is not at the board of peace, but at the dock of the special tribunal," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
Russian forces carried out consecutive air strikes on Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, in the early hours of Saturday. Authorities reported one person killed and at least 23 injured in the assault. Ukraine's air force provided specific figures for the operation, saying Russia employed 375 drones and 21 missiles.
The strikes again focused on energy infrastructure, cutting electricity and heating for substantial areas of the capital. Ukraine's deputy prime minister said that about 800,000 people in Kyiv were left without power after the most recent attack. Temperatures in the capital were around -10 Celsius at the time.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had cautioned on Friday that it was too soon to draw firm conclusions from the first day of the Abu Dhabi meetings and urged Russia to demonstrate a genuine willingness to end the conflict. The talks in the UAE were scheduled to resume for a final day on Saturday morning.
Ahead of the sessions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Friday that Russia had not abandoned its demand that Ukraine cede control of its entire eastern Donbas region, which comprises Donetsk and Luhansk. A central point of contention has been Russian President Vladimir Putin's insistence that Ukraine surrender the roughly 20% of Donetsk that remains under Kyiv's control - an area estimated at about 5,000 sq km (1,900 sq miles). This demand has been described as a major stumbling block to any potential agreement.
Zelenskiy has rejected giving up territory that Russian forces have failed to capture over four years of attritional warfare. Public opinion polling indicates little support within Ukraine for territorial concessions.
Moscow maintains it seeks a diplomatic resolution, but it has also stated it will continue pursuing its objectives through military means as long as negotiations do not produce a settlement. The latest round of strikes follows two earlier mass overnight attacks since the start of the year, which previously disrupted power and heating for hundreds of residential buildings.
The timing of the strikes - coinciding with high-level talks in Abu Dhabi - heightened tensions and drew direct condemnation from Kyiv, which framed the assault as evidence that President Putin should not be seated alongside other negotiators seeking peace.