Ukraine updates: Russia strikes war-hit nation’s energy grid

The chair of the Munich Security Conference(MSC) Wolfgang Ischinger has warned that Russia’s threat to NATO’s eastern flank could intensify after a ceasefire in Ukraine.

 “As long as Ukraine defends Europe, the danger is not so great,” Ischinger said in comments published in the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

This means that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s armies are currently tied up there, “and he is losing thousands of soldiers every week.”

Ischinger predicted that a ceasefire in Ukraine would allow Putin to “continue his rearmament in peace,” which he said would “intensify” the threat to the military alliance.

The MSC chair insisted he was supportive of a peace deal, however.

“I wish nothing more for the people of Ukraine. But the Russian threat will also grow for us Germans if a future ceasefire is not accompanied by a massive reduction in the military build-up in Russia’s western military districts,” Ischinger said.

This year’s Munich Security Conference runs from February 13-15.

Two airports in southeastern Poland grounded flights temporarily on Saturday after Russia launched fresh strikes on nearby territory in Ukraine.

“In ‍connection with the need to ensure the possibility of the free operation of military aviation, the airports in ⁠Rzeszow and Lublin have temporarily suspended flight operations,” the Polish Air Navigation ‌Services Agency (PANZA) posted on X.

Both cities are ‌close to ⁠the country’s border with Ukraine, with Rzeszow being NATO’s main hub for arms supplies to Ukraine.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote on X that military aviation ‍had begun operating in Polish airspace due to Russian ​strikes ​on Ukraine.

“These actions are of a preventive nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened regions,” the army said.

Flight tracking ‍service FlightRadar24 posted on X that the closure involved NATO aircraft operating in the area.

About two hours later, PANSA wrote on X that flights at both airports had resumed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that Washington has given both Kyiv and Moscow a deadline until June to end the war.

Zelenskyy said if the deadline is not met, the Trump administration would likely pressure both sides to meet it.

“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said in comments embargoed until Saturday morning.

“And they say that they want to do everything by June. And they will do everything to end the war. And they want a clear schedule of all events,” he said.

Zelenskyy confirmed Ukraine’s participation in the next round of trilateral talks, proposed for next week in the United States.

During a previous round of trilateral talks this week in Abu Dhabi, Russia pushed Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas, which Kyiv said it would never accept.

US President Donald Trump has scrapped a punitive tariff on India that he had introduced to indirectly weaken Russia’s oil trade.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday to ensure that the 25% tariff imposed in August on goods imported from India into the US will no longer be levied. The change takes effect from Saturday.

India started buying Russian crude at a heavy discount after European countries cut their reliance on Russian energy as the war unfolded in February 2022.

In recent months, New Delhi has started cutting Russian oil orders following pressure from Trump and last week agreed to buy more energy from US suppliers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has benefited from the country’s huge oil and gas reserves, which have been used to finance what he calls his “special military operation” in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said that discussions over Russia’s war in Ukraine were progressing well, suggesting that a peace plan could soon move forward, without giving details.

“We had very, very good talks today on Russia and Ukraine. Something could be happening,” he told reporters on Friday. 

Trump, who pledged to end the conflict after taking office, has yet to deliver on that promise more than a year into his second term.

Sources told Reuters news agency that US and Ukrainian negotiators have been exploring an ambitious target of reaching a Russia-Ukraine peace deal by March.

The sources said the timeline is expected to slip amid unresolved disputes over territory.

The two sides have also discussed the possibility of a referendum and elections in May, Reuters reported.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday that delegations from the three countries had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saidRussia’s latest strikes on energy infrastructure involved more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that the main targets were “the energy grid, generation facilities, and distribution substations.” 

He said that damage has been reported in Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Rivne regions, noting additional strikes in Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.

As negotiations continue to end the war, Zelenskyy said Russia “must be deprived of the ability to use the cold as leverage against Ukraine,” which he said would require Patriot, NASAMS and other missile systems from Kyiv’s allies.

Ukraine’s power grid operator blamed a “massive attack” by Russian forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for electricity outages across the country on Saturday.

“Due to the damage caused by the enemy, emergency outages have been applied in most regions,” Ukrenergo said in a statement on Telegram.

Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the Russian strikes had hit the Burshtynska and Dobrotvirska power plants in western Ukraine and called for emergency assistance from neighboring Poland.

Shmyhal, who is also Ukraine’s energy minister, ‌said repairs to damaged facilities would begin “as soon as the security situation allows.”

Russia has been accused of deliberately targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the nearly four-year conflict.

Waves of attacks have hit power plants, substations and transmission lines, often timed with cold weather to maximize disruption.

The attacks have contributed to chronic power deficits and repeated emergency outages in the war-ravaged country.

Recent strikes on energy facilities have come during one of Ukraine’s coldest winters in more than a decade.

Thank you for joining us for the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s state grid operator said Russian forces have launched a “massive attack” on the country’s energy infrastructure, causing power outages in most regions.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv had requested emergency assistance from Poland after Russia hit the Burshtynska and Dobrotvirska power plants in western Ukraine.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said “very good talks” were ongoing regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, adding that “something could be happening” as a result of the negotiations.

US and Ukrainian officials have discussed an ambitious March goal for the warring parties to agree on a peace deal, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.

Stay tuned for more.