Ukrainian strikes disrupt power and heating to 2 major cities in Russia

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian strikes disrupted power and heating to two major Russian cities near the Ukrainian border, local Russian officials reported Sunday.

The report comes as Russia and Ukraine have traded almost daily assaults on each other’s energy infrastructure and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the nearly four-year war have not advanced.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s top diplomat accused Moscow of deliberately endangering nuclear safety, as he said Russia’s mass drone and missile attack on Friday struck substations that power two nuclear power plants.

Power knocked out in two Russian cities

A drone strike temporarily caused blackouts and cut heating to parts of Voronezh, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said. He said several drones were electronically jammed during the night over the city, home to just over 1 million people, sparking a fire at a local utility facility that was quickly extinguished.

Russian and Ukrainian news channels on Telegram claimed the strike targeted a local thermal power plant.

A missile strike late on Saturday also caused “serious damage” to power and heating systems supplying the city of Belgorod, with some 20,000 households affected, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported the following morning.

Belgorod had a population of some 340,000 people at the last census in 2021, and is the administrative center of a region of the same name.

Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday that its forces destroyed or intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones during the night that flew over southwestern Russia. The statement made no mention of either the Voronezh or Belgorod provinces, nor did it specify how many drones Ukraine launched.

Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war. Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the biting cold.

Strikes endanger power supply to nuclear plants

Russia’s mass drone and missile strikes Friday hit power substations that supply two of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

“Russia once again targeted substations that power the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants,” Sybiha said in a statement on X late Saturday. “These were not accidental but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately endangering nuclear safety in Europe.”

Sybiha called for an urgent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors to respond to the risks posed by the attacks.

Moscow’s massive attacks on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure last winter have heightened scrutiny over the Ukrainian Energy Ministry’s apparent failure to protect the country’s most critical energy facilities near nuclear power sites, according to several current and former officials who spoke to the AP.

Russia’s Lavrov says he’s ready to meet Rubio

Elsewhere, Russia’s top diplomat said Sunday that he was ready to meet U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to discuss the war in Ukraine and mending bilateral ties.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and I understand the need for regular communication,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russia’s Ria state agency, weeks after efforts to organise a summit between the Russian and U.S. leaders were put on ice.

Lavrov on Sunday repeated that peace can’t be achieved without “taking Russian interests into account,” a phrase Moscow has used to signal it is standing firm in its maximalist demands for Ukraine.