Svyrydenko says Russia targeted district boiler houses in overnight attacks

Russian strikes during the night of January 9 targeted district boiler houses, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said, citing reports from the Interior Ministry, the Energy Ministry and the Ministry for Communities and Territorial Development.

"For almost five hours, Russia bombarded residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities," Svyrydenko said. "This time, the enemy targeted district boiler houses. This is energy terror and an attempt to turn winter into a weapon."

A sharp cold snap hit Kyiv on January 9, with temperatures falling to nearly minus 10 degrees Celsius. Meteorologists warn that the frost is expected to intensify in the coming days.

According to Svyrydenko, more than 500,000 electricity consumers in the capital were left without power after overnight strikes damaged substations, power lines and generation facilities. Emergency outage schedules were introduced on Kyiv’s left bank.

The town of Slavutych, near the Chernihiv region, was also left without electricity as a result of the attacks.

Overall, Russia launched more than 240 attack drones and 36 sea- and land-based missiles during the overnight assault, Ukrainian officials said.

Separately, adverse weather conditions caused power outages in some settlements across most regions of Ukraine.

• In Kyiv, four people were killed and dozens injured during the night attack, including medical workers. Russian forces struck the capital again while rescue operations were under way, Ukrainian authorities said. Power, water and heating supplies in parts of the city were disrupted.
• Russia also struck the Lviv region with an Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile, prompting Ukraine to call an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. This marked the second known use of the missile, following a strike on the city of Dnipro in November 2024.