Russia strikes Kyiv's CHPP-5 with ballistic missiles overnight, leaving 1,129 buildings without heat and electricity – officials

Kyiv’s Darnytsia combined heat and power plant (CHPP), which had been focused exclusively on heat production for residents, was heavily damaged by a Russian strike overnight that involved five ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal reported. He visited the facility on Tuesday together with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.

"This is a war crime by Russia," the energy minister emphasized on Telegram following a meeting of the headquarters coordinating the response to Russian strikes.

According to a video published by Shmyhal on Telegram, he also clarified to Rutte that Darnytsia CHPP is privately owned.

"A total of 1,129 residential buildings have been left without heat and electricity, hundreds of thousands of civilians, including schools and hospitals, in the midst of severe winter cold," Sybiha wrote on the social media platform X. "We are informing all our partners about Russia’s barbaric strikes, their consequences, and our urgent needs."

Rutte, also writing on X, said that about half a million people have been left without heat.

According to the energy minister, a recovery work plan has already been outlined.

"Let’s be frank, this will take considerable time. The Energy Ministry, the Ministry for Development, the city authorities, municipal and private companies are providing all possible assistance with equipment and specialists," Shmyhal said.

He also instructed officials to analyze all available municipal, private, and state-owned facilities in districts where residents who have lost heating in their homes could be temporarily accommodated.

"Given the critical nature of the situation, the meeting discussed urgent measures to stabilize the system. Repair crews and equipment are currently being reassigned, and starting tomorrow, Ukrtransgaz forces will be involved in restoring heat pipelines," the energy minister added.

As reported, citing Desniansky District State Administration head Maksym Bakhmatov, following an earlier massive Russian strike on the capital on January 24, the municipal CHPP-6 near Troyeschyna residential district, also located on Kyiv’s left bank, stopped producing heat carrier.

There are three large CHP plants in Kyiv.