Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that a Russian ballistic missile struck a power plant in Kyiv on Tuesday evening without Ukraine receiving advance warning from its western allies. “This is absolutely unjust: when they are destroying our infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches,” Zelenskyy said. He noted that Ukrainian systems only detected the missiles as they were nearing the city.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that two people died in a strike on a high-rise apartment building in the capital on Tuesday night, with another 21 injured. Emergency crews worked to extinguish fires in apartments while residents were evacuated. Klitschko urged the public to remain in shelters, stating that energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region had come under a massive ballistic missile strike, resulting in power disruptions across the capital.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed its forces carried out a “massive” strike against communications and energy infrastructure. According to the ministry, targets included two plants supplying power and heating in Kyiv, two other plants in the wider region, and an electricity substation. The ministry also stated that forces hit a heating and power plant in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, as well as a thermal power facility it said supplied the Ukrainian military in the southeast of the Kharkiv region. Additionally, Moscow claimed to have struck a data centre in Kyiv, alleging it was used to gather intelligence on Russian military operations.
In a related development, the Russian Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 902 drones over Russian regions overnight. Previously, on Tuesday, the ministry reported downing 604 Ukrainian drones across the country and the Sea of Azov. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that 417 drones targeted the Moscow region, with 65 intercepted as they approached the capital. A school, two private houses, and a car were reported damaged in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.
US President Donald Trump denied that intelligence sharing with Ukraine had stopped, a topic that became contentious after US officials made explicit threats over the weekend regarding the suspension of such cooperation. “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end, so we’re working with them and Russia on getting the war to end,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. He has demanded that Ukraine halt strikes on Russian refineries and blamed Zelenskyy for rising fuel prices in the US. This follows a deal announced Friday between Trump and Vladimir Putin to import diesel from Russia, which led to the lifting of previous US sanctions on the fuel.
On Capitol Hill, a group of six Republican and six Democratic senators jointly warned that lifting sanctions to allow Moscow to sell fuel was “a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies.” Trump defended the decision, citing the need to increase supply and lower pump prices ahead of upcoming US elections that will determine control of Congress. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine supports the proposed energy truce, provided Russia observes it, and said his team has sent proposals regarding possible next meetings with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The conflict has also spilled into the Black Sea, where suspected Russian drones struck two cargo ships off Bulgaria on Tuesday. One vessel, the Ukrainian-owned cargo ship Chelsea 3, was hit, while the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity was struck and sank farther north. Eleven sailors are missing. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned the Russian ambassador, calling the attacks “absolutely unacceptable,” and sought assistance from NATO and the EU. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen described the incidents as “another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine.”
Separately, Ukraine took a step forward in its EU membership bid on Tuesday. The European Union opened negotiations on internal market and competitiveness standards after Hungary dropped its objections. This move followed Ukrainian lawmakers passing legislation protecting the rights of the Hungarian-speaking minority in western Ukraine, a long-standing source of tension with Budapest.
