A key energy facility supplying Kyiv with heating and electricity has been hit by a Russian ballistic missile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The strike damaged the Darnytska CHP-4 plant, also known as CHPP-4, as well as a residential building. Zelensky said the attack arrived with “no early warning from our partners”.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed and 13 were injured in the missile strike on an apartment block late on Tuesday. Four of the injured were in serious condition, he said. The attack came two days after US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed an energy ceasefire, although Kyiv reported several Russian strikes after that announcement.
Zelensky accuses Russia of targeting energy infrastructure
Writing on social media after Tuesday’s strikes, Zelensky said Ukraine had backed an energy ceasefire while Russia was going after yet another power plant and the lives of Ukrainians. He called the situation “absolutely unjust”, saying his country was not receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches while its energy infrastructure was being destroyed.
He urged the world not to remain silent and said it mattered that the United States saw what was happening and who was keeping the war going. Kyiv has now been struck by Russian missiles on two consecutive nights.
Trump denies cutting off intelligence to Ukraine
After strikes on Monday night, speculation emerged that America had cut off access to key intelligence that helps Ukraine track incoming threats. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump rejected that claim. “We are helping them and we are sharing intel,” he said.
Trump said Washington wanted the war to end and was working with both Kyiv and Moscow toward that goal. Asked about Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, he said “Ukraine hit many sites the day before”. When asked whether Russia had broken the ceasefire, he did not give a direct answer, saying both countries wanted the war to “come to an end” but “just don’t know how to get there”.
The developments follow Zelensky’s remark on Sunday that a 60-day ceasefire would allow Ukraine to hold presidential elections, after Trump said “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president”. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine did not deserve the “respite” a ceasefire would bring. He added that under any truce, Europe would be able to “pump [Ukraine] with new weapons” so the war could continue.
Earlier damage to the CHPP-4 plant
CHPP-4 provides heating and electricity to the Dniprovskyi district and parts of the Darnytskyi district. It has been hit multiple times during the war. A separate Russian missile attack in February severely damaged the plant and forced it to shut down.
That strike left more than 1,000 residential buildings without heating and hot water, according to figures cited in the report. It also affected 47 schools, 72 kindergartens and 18 medical institutions.
