Russia launches another major attack on Ukraine's power grid and other
sites, killing 4
[January 13, 2026]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile
bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming
again at the power grid and apparently snubbing U.S.-led peace efforts
as the war approaches the four-year mark.
Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise
missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy said on social media.
One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a
mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power
in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said. The daytime temperature in the
capital was -12 C (around 10 F). The streets were covered with ice, and
the city rumbled with the noise from generators.
Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of
missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time
in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck
western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO
allies that it won’t back down.
On Monday, the United States accused Russia of a “ dangerous and
inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting, when the Trump administration
is trying to advance peace negotiations.
Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an
emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores
“the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns
Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in
the freezing winter months over the course of the war, hoping to wear
down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on
Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing
winter.”
In Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Russian attack also wounded 10 people,
local authorities said.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency
services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian
attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian
Emergency Service via AP)
In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the
attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military
administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a
hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of
residential buildings, he said.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of
agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as
new pledges of aid, to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones
overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. Seven were
reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri
Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about
40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in
Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.
Ukraine’s military said domestically-produced drones hit a drone
manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant carries
out design, manufacturing and testing of Molniya drones and
components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire
were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings
confirmed, the General Staff said.
It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.
___
Katie Marie Davies contributed to this report from Manchester,
England.
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