UK PM Starmer Condemns Russian Strikes on Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1615 EAT on Wednesday 4 February 2026

Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are “particularly depraved,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday, condemning attacks that have left millions without power amid winter months.

Starmer’s comments come as Ukraine continues to grapple with targeted missile and drone attacks on power plants and electricity grids, which Kyiv and Western allies have described as deliberate attempts to inflict civilian hardship and disrupt the country’s energy supply.

When asked by reporters whether he was disappointed by Russia’s renewed attacks, US President Donald Trump said, “It [the agreement] was on Sunday, and he [Putin] went from Sunday to Sunday. It’s a lot, you know, one week. We’ll take anything, because it’s really, really cold over there.”

Trump has been leading efforts to broker an end to the war, but his Russian counterpart has so far refused calls for a ceasefire.

The latest Russian attacks on Ukraine have caused extensive damage, leaving more than 1,000 apartment blocks in Kyiv without heating and a power plant in the eastern city of Kharkiv beyond repair.

Residents have been forced to spend nights sheltering in metro stations, with some pitching tents on platforms to escape the freezing cold. Authorities have set up warming centres across Kyiv and are importing additional generators to cope with extended blackout periods as engineers work to repair the damage.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister, Denys Shmyhal, described the situation as “difficult,” saying repairs would take time. Kyiv’s Darnytsia Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, he added, had been “severely damaged.”

For residents like psychologist Iryna Vovk, who lives in Kyiv with her daughter while her husband is away fighting, the hardships are daily realities. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Vovk said she was considering moving to her parents’ village due to problems accessing electricity and water.

“Here in Kyiv, life is very awful,” she said. Her daughter, she added, “tries to smile and lead a normal life, but it’s not a normal life. She cannot study properly or attend online lessons.”

Ukraine has repeatedly complained of a shortage of missiles and urged allies to deliver more. Early on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Air Force reported being targeted by more than 100 drones. Most were intercepted, but drone strikes were reported at 14 locations, along with falling debris.

The human toll continues to mount. Oleksandr Ganzha, head of Dnipropetrovsk’s military administration, said a 68-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man were killed in a Russian attack, with two others injured. In the Zaporizhzhia region, leader Ivan Federov reported three people killed and 11 wounded, including children, during attacks on Tuesday evening that continued overnight.

In Luhansk, the Russian-controlled administration said a man and a woman were killed on Tuesday night in a drone strike on a minibus, attributed to Ukraine. In Odesa, at least five people were injured during strikes that damaged residential buildings, according to the city’s military administration chief, Serhiy Lysak.

One local resident, Olena, described the destruction to Ukraine’s national public broadcaster: “It happened just as I was about to fall asleep. My apartment is completely destroyed, there is nothing left. Only some furniture near the walls survived.”

In Russia, the governor of the western Bryansk region, Alexandra Bogomaz, said Ukraine had launched a “combined attack” involving drones and long-range missiles, destroying a residential building and injuring one person.

Further south in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said authorities were continuing work to restore power and water services following a Ukrainian missile strike earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, top US envoys are meeting negotiators from Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — former President Trump’s son-in-law — are joining the teams to discuss a US-proposed peace plan.

The most contentious issue remains Russian demands for Ukraine to cede control of the remainder of the eastern industrial Donbas region that Moscow does not currently occupy. Russia has made slow gains in the area in recent months.

The conflict stems from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced.

Source: BBC

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