Overnight strikes on energy infrastructure

Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to plunge Kyiv and the entire country into a blackout after substations in the capital and a bridge over the Dnipro River came under attack overnight. Russia's defence ministry said its early Saturday strikes were against energy and transport targets.

• •The attack involved 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv and surrounding regions.
• •Substations in five regions were hit, including one connecting two nuclear power plants to Kyiv.
• •The Northern Bridge, a key transport artery in Kyiv, shut on Saturday while crews fixed damage to the road's surface and power lines.

Blackouts and water shortages in the capital

Kyiv faced serious difficulties with electricity, water and heat supplies, and five people were injured, including a 14-year-old girl, according to Zelenskyy. Throughout the week, households in the capital have gone without power for entire days at a stretch and seen water supplies fail at times. Zelenskyy said Moscow was pummelling a city of millions with ballistic missiles while preparing for peace talks.

Talks in Abu Dhabi amid the attacks

The strikes come days before negotiators representing Russia, Ukraine and the US gather in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks aimed at ending the war. In a CNN interview, Zelenskyy called Jared Kushner's latest blueprint "Yalta 2.0", a reference to the 1945 summit of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. Kushner said in social media posts that the talks would cover a new security framework for Europe alongside guarantees for Ukraine, and Donald Trump said on Friday a "big beautiful agreement" involving "all of Europe" could be close.

The positions remain far apart. Putin has demanded that Nato go back to its pre-1997 posture, before the Baltic states and eastern and Balkan European nations joined - a demand Western diplomats say would effectively end Nato. Zelenskyy warned that discussing European-Russian security infrastructure can be dangerous. "We don't want to be divided by Russia," he told CNN. He said Moscow must end its war first with meaningful security guarantees for Ukraine, and wider security architecture could then be considered depending on the answers.

Appeal to Washington

With the Democrats newly victorious in the midterm elections, Zelenskyy urged the incoming US Congress to give Ukraine greater attention. "Ukraine must not be left alone. We are counting on increased bilateral support from the US," he said.

Ukrainian officials say the Kremlin's goal is to freeze civilians into submission over the winter, calling it a war crime. Russia has dramatically stepped up air attacks on Ukrainian cities since the summer as its frontline progress has stalled, and Kyiv says Russia lost 54,000 troops killed or injured last month, the highest monthly loss of the war.