Ukraine's foreign minister accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday of "cynically" ordering a massive missile strike while delegations from Ukraine, Russia, and the US were in Abu Dhabi for Washington-brokered peace talks.
"One person was killed, and at least four were injured in Kyiv. A maternity ward, an IDP dormitory, and a hospital were damaged in Kharkiv, causing civilian casualties. Northernmost regional center, Chernihiv, is left without power after strikes," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
"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," he added.
Russia launched waves of air strikes against Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, with one person killed and at least 23 injured. Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 375 drones and 21 missiles in the strikes, which once again targeted energy infrastructure, knocking out power and heat for large parts of the capital.
"Russia's large overnight strike on Ukrainian energy facilities showed that agreements on air defense made with US President Donald Trump in Davos this week must be fully implemented," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
First day of meetings ends in Abu Dhabi
Zelensky said on Friday that it was too early to draw conclusions from the first day of meetings in Abu Dhabi, and urged Russia to show it was ready to end the war. The talks were expected to resume on Saturday morning for a final day.
Ahead of the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had not dropped its insistence that Ukraine yield all of its eastern Donbas region - Ukraine's industrial heartland, comprising the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand that Ukraine surrender the 20% it still holds of Donetsk - about 5,000 sq km (1,900 sq miles) - has proven a major stumbling block to any deal.
Zelenskiy refuses to give up land that Russia has not been able to capture in four years of grinding, attritional warfare. Polls show little appetite among Ukrainians for territorial concessions.
Russia says it wants a diplomatic solution but will keep working to achieve its goals by military means as long as a negotiated solution remains elusive.
Before Saturday's strikes, Kyiv had already endured two mass overnight attacks since the New Year that knocked out power and heating to hundreds of residential buildings. Ukraine's deputy prime minister said on Saturday that 800,000 people in Kyiv, where temperatures were around -10 Celsius, had been left without power after the latest Russian attack.