Russia targets Ukraine’s energy as trilateral talks loom

(Al Jazeera Media Network) As the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and the United States prepare to hold their first trilateral meeting to end Russia’s war in Ukraine this weekend, almost half of Ukraine is without electricity and heat in sub-zero temperatures, following repeated Russian drone strikes targeting energy infrastructure.

The strikes appeared designed to break Ukrainian resistance at the negotiating table on territorial concessions to Russia – the one issue Ukraine and the US said remained unresolved at the end of talks in Davos, Switzerland, between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump this week.

Following those talks on Thursday, Zelenskyy said security guarantees had been agreed, and the next step would be the trilateral meeting starting today in Abu Dhabi and including Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said negotiations have so far resolved all but one issue, without specifying what that was. But Zelenskyy told reporters in Davos it was the territorial issue.

Russia wants Ukraine to cede the one-fifth of the eastern Donetsk region that it has not already seized. A poll this week by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that 54 percent of Ukrainians agreed with Zelenskyy in steadfastly refusing to do this, while another 39 percent reluctantly backed the concession in return for very strong security guarantees.

Last week, Russian commander-in-chief Valery Gerasimov claimed his forces had seized 300 sq km of Ukraine this year. An estimate based on geolocated footage suggested the truth was closer to 74 sq km, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

Without significant battlefield successes, the energy crisis now appears to be Moscow’s desperate bid for leverage to win territories it may be unable to conquer even over the longer term.

Almost 60 percent of Kyiv remained without electricity on January 21, 12 days after devastating Russian strikes on January 9 and 13, and again on Tuesday this week, badly damaged its electricity infrastructure.

“As of this morning, about 4,000 buildings in Kyiv are still without heat, and nearly 60 percent of the capital is without electricity,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Zelenskyy said that reflected the situation across the country, where only 60 percent of electricity needs were being met.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/1/23/russia-targets-ukraines-energy-as-trilateral-talks-loom