Overview
- President Volodymyr Zelensky announced an energy emergency after the most damaging Russian strikes on Kyiv’s utilities in months and ordered a permanent coordination hub focused on the capital.
- Zelensky sharply criticized Kyiv’s crisis preparedness, while Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city faces its toughest period since the war began, with many residents cycling through hours without power, heat and water.
- Officials in Russia’s Belgorod region reported significant outages following Ukrainian strikes, with Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov urging residents to prepare for potential evacuations; earlier reports described hundreds of thousands temporarily without power and water.
- Berlin is set to hear a government statement from Mayor Kai Wegner on the Jan. 3 cable‑bridge arson that left about 45,000 households and more than 2,200 businesses without electricity for days, as the city plans tighter oversight at critical grid points.
- Ukraine’s government is working to boost electricity imports and expedite equipment procurement, and it is weighing curfew adjustments and expanding warming centers to ease winter hardships in Kyiv and other hard‑hit cities such as Dnipro and Odessa.