President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there were no targeted Russian missile or drone strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the past 24 hours, though frontline facilities still faced attacks. Repair crews restored damage to high-voltage lines amid extremely cold weather, but Zelenskiy warned the system remains vulnerable. Separate Russian strikes reportedly killed 12 miners in Dnipropetrovsk and caused civilian casualties in Donetsk. Kyiv and Moscow are due to hold talks in Abu Dhabi midweek aimed at de‑escalation.
Zelenskiy: No New Targeted Russian Strikes On Ukraine's Energy Grid In Past 24 Hours — Risks Remain
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
KYIV, Feb 2 (Reuters) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russia had not launched any targeted missile or drone strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the previous 24 hours, though facilities in frontline areas continued to come under fire.
Zelenskiy stressed that the short pause in strikes illustrated the limits of a temporary energy truce agreed last week after a personal request from U.S. President Donald Trump. Kyiv and Moscow differ on how long that pause should last: the Kremlin said it was linked to Trump's request to President Vladimir Putin to refrain from strikes on Kyiv until Feb. 1, while Zelenskiy said the truce was intended to run for a week beginning Jan. 30.
Repair crews have already restored facilities damaged when high-voltage power lines malfunctioned over the weekend, on top of repairs from repeated Russian attacks. "The (energy) system is operating stably. However, given the extremely cold weather and the impact of Russian strikes, all challenges remain serious," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram app.
"The (energy) system is operating stably. However, given the extremely cold weather and the impact of Russian strikes, all challenges remain serious." — Volodymyr Zelenskiy
The president added that Russian forces appear to be concentrating on transport logistics, with railway infrastructure a particular focus of recent attacks. Separate strikes continued to exact a human toll: officials said a Russian drone strike on Sunday killed 12 miners at a coal mine in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and energy firm DTEK reported one of its coal-mining sites in the region was attacked for the second time in 24 hours.
Regional authorities also reported that a strike in the frontline Donetsk region killed a father and son and wounded two children and their mother.
Kyiv and Moscow are preparing for talks in Abu Dhabi this week aimed at finding a way to end the fighting; the meetings are expected to take place on Wednesday and Thursday.
Context: While the temporary pause in direct strikes on energy infrastructure offers limited relief, officials warn that Russia's focus on transport nodes and the harsh winter conditions leave Ukraine's energy system and civilians vulnerable.
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