Russia fires missiles and drones at Ukraine: Hungary threatens sanctions, Slovakia threatens power outage

Russia has fired numerous missiles and drones at targets across Ukraine, destroying a house in the capital, two days before the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the British newspaper The Guardian reported today.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kremlin launched 297 drones and nearly 50 missiles on Sunday, in the latest wave of overnight attacks. He added that a "significant number" of them had been shot down and called on allies to bolster the country's air defenses against enemy attacks.

The Ukrainian president said: "Moscow continues to invest in attacks more than in diplomacy. This time, Russian targets included not only energy facilities, but also logistics, especially railway and water supply infrastructure."

The Kremlin has systematically targeted Ukraine's power grid, leaving more than half a million people in Kiev without power. Other cities have also been hit multiple times, including Odessa and Kharkiv, while temperatures have plunged to -22 degrees Celsius in the coldest winter in years.

Zelensky said there had been no let-up in Russia's aerial bombardment, despite US-brokered talks with Russia in Geneva last week. The Kremlin wants Ukraine to cede territory in eastern Donbass that its forces have been unable to capture - something unacceptable to Kiev.

The intense firing came as tensions between Ukraine and neighboring Slovakia and Hungary escalated. Budapest threatened to block a new package of European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia, while Bratislava said it would cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine on Monday.

Both countries are seeking the restoration of Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukrainian territory. Kiev says a Russian drone attack in January damaged the pipeline that supplies oil to central Europe.

Foreign ministers of EU member states are due to meet in Brussels on Monday to consider a 20th round of sanctions against Moscow, a measure they hope to be able to approve in time to coincide with Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of the invasion.

The Guardian writes that Hungary, which has a pro-Russian government, claims that Zelensky is delaying repairs. In a video posted on social media, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said: "Until the Ukrainians resume oil deliveries to Hungary, we will not allow decisions that are important to them to be made."

The British newspaper reports that Robert Fico, the pro-Russian prime minister of Slovakia, accused Zelensky of "behaving maliciously" on the X network. The interruption of oil supplies had "caused additional losses and logistical difficulties," Fico said. If supplies are not restored by Monday, Slovakia will cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine, he added.

The latest Russian strikes killed one man and injured dozens of others, including four children, Ukrainian national police said. A rocket hit a two-story private house in the Kiev suburb of Sofiivska Borshchahivka. Rescuers were searching the rubble today, while firefighters were washing the area.

Jana Terleyeva, 44, said she woke up to the sound of whistling rockets, alarms and a loud explosion. The medical worker said: "We realised that a rocket had landed nearby. Later we saw that the house next to us, where ordinary people lived, was completely destroyed. There are no military facilities here."

She added: "Russia is a terrorist country that will not stop. We have seen how, for four consecutive years, and for more than 11 years in total, Russia has attacked the peaceful population. Ukrainians want to be independent and free. We are a good people, we are resilient, but we cannot endure this war alone."

In the western city of Lviv, officials said they were treating today's large explosion as a terrorist incident. The blast hit a central shopping street around midnight, near the Lviv Opera House. A 23-year-old police officer was killed and 25 others were injured, 14 of whom were taken to hospital.

There were unconfirmed reports that a burglary had been reported at the store. When police arrived at the scene, a bomb was detonated, followed shortly afterwards by a second explosion, which was set to kill emergency responders. Police arrested several people.

Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv, said: "This is clearly a terrorist act." The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that "there is every reason to believe that the crime was committed on the orders of Russia."

Despite four years of all-out war, Moscow is no closer to achieving its initial goals in Ukraine, which include removing the pro-Western government of President Zelensky.

Russia occupies close to a fifth of Ukrainian territory and continues to advance, especially in the east, despite the loss of 1,2 million soldiers, killed or wounded, according to the Guardian.

In an interview on Friday, Zelensky told Agence France-Presse that Ukraine "definitely is not losing."

"Victory is still the goal," he said, noting that Ukrainian forces had recently recaptured about 300 square kilometers of territory in the southern Zaporozhye region.

Speaking in Rome today, Pope Leo XIV described peace in Ukraine as an "urgent need." In his regular Sunday address to the crowd in St. Peter's Square, he said: "Peace cannot be postponed... It must find space in hearts and be translated into responsible decisions. I strongly renew my appeal: let the guns fall silent, let the bombings stop, let a ceasefire be reached without delay, and let dialogue be strengthened to open the way to peace."