RUSSIA – Vladimir Putin unleashed savage overnight strikes on Kyiv, hammering residential tower blocks and energy infrastructure just hours before Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet Donald Trump in Florida for talks on a US-brokered peace plan.
The onslaught came after Trump signalled he would be assessing Zelensky’s proposals at tomorrow’s summit, saying: “We’ll see what he’s got,” as pressure mounts to end the war.
Russia deployed the full force of its Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers, firing hypersonic Kinzhal missiles alongside Iskander and Kalibr cruise missiles, and swarms of Shahed drones in what appeared to be a calculated show of force ahead of the talks.
The intensity of the blitz was so extreme that NATO was forced to scramble fighter jets for a second consecutive day amid fears Putin’s ‘seasonal’ terror strikes could spill across borders.
Large parts of Kyiv were left without heating, power and water as temperatures dipped to minus one degree Celsius.
The overnight assault - which included drones slamming into apartment blocks and the disabling of multiple power and heating plants - raises profound questions over whether Putin has any genuine intention of ending the war.
Trump has insisted Russia ‘wants’ peace. If so, there was little evidence of it in Kyiv overnight.
A New Year greetings card to his henchmen from Putin promised ‘changes for the better’ and urged them to ‘share their warmth with our loved ones’ - just as he unleashed his latest terror strikes on Ukraine, plunging hundreds of thousands into the cold.
The barrage, which included hypersonic missiles, triggered military aviation activity in neighbouring Polish airspace.
Vladimir Putin unleashed savage overnight strikes on Kyiv. (Pic: PBS)