British Prime Minister Keir Starmer harshly criticized the missile and drone attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine during a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on February 3, calling them ‘barbaric.’ He particularly highlighted the strikes on critical infrastructure, including energy facilities, which occurred when temperatures dropped below -20°C.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Reactions from world leaders to Russia’s attacks
In his public statement, Starmer emphasized that Russia’s nighttime attacks were ‘horrific’ due to the extreme weather conditions that threatened the lives of Ukrainian civilians.
‘Putin’s brutal attacks on critical national infrastructure, including energy systems, were particularly horrific when temperatures fell below -20°C.’
Before this conversation, Donald Trump spoke with reporters at the White House, where he noted that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had kept his promise regarding an energy ceasefire. According to Trump, the pause in missile strikes lasted from Sunday, January 25, to Sunday, February 1, after which the Russian Federation resumed attacks against Ukraine. Trump stressed that the week-long ‘break’ was important given the extremely low temperatures.
Details of the ceasefire and subsequent attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed the view that the period during which Putin promised Trump not to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure began on the night of January 30. However, this information differs from the statement previously released by the Kremlin. Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Trump personally asked Putin to refrain from attacks on Kyiv for a week, until February 1, to create conditions for negotiations.
On January 29, Donald Trump announced that he had asked Putin not to attack Ukrainian cities for a week, stating that Putin agreed to this proposal. Trump emphasized that he did this due to the extreme cold and difficult conditions for the civilian population.
On the night of February 3, the Ukrainian Air Force recorded mass launches of strike drones and missiles from Russia targeting Ukrainian cities. These attacks occurred on the eve of trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia, scheduled to take place on February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi to seek ways to end the war.
According to the Air Force, on the night of February 3, Russia carried out over 500 launches of missiles and drones against Ukraine. As a result, strikes were recorded in 27 populated areas, with the main targets being Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, and Odesa regions.