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Russian "kamikaze" drones hit key energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv on Monday and President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus for the first time since 2019, fueling Ukrainian fears he will pressure his ally to open a new invasion front.
But Ukraine was hardly mentioned by Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko after their talks, with remarks to reporters dwelling instead on bilateral and economic cooperation.
The Ukrainian military high command said their air defences had shot down 23 of 28 drones - most over the capital Kyiv - in what was Moscow's third air strike in six days and the latest in a series since October targeting the Ukrainian power grid, causing sweeping blackouts amid sub-zero temperatures.
No casualties were reported as a result of the drone strikes, it said in its evening update, though nine buildings were damaged in the Kyiv region.
The Ukrainian atomic energy agency accused Russia of sending one of the drones over part of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant in the Mykolaiv region.
"This is an absolutely unacceptable violation of nuclear and radiation safety," Energoatom wrote on Telegram.
Invading Russian forces now occupy the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, Europe's largest, in southeastern Ukraine near the front line.
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