KYIV ENERGY COLLAPSE: Zelensky Slams Own Air Force After Russian Drones Devastate Kyiv’s Grid

Times Now World ^ | 1/21/2026 | Not Attributed

[SaxxonWoods]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s latest drone and missile attacks had left more than one million consumers without electricity in Kyiv, with thousands of apartment blocks also losing heating during freezing winter temperatures. In a rare wartime admission, Zelenskyy criticised the performance of Ukraine’s air force against Russian Shahed drones, despite the availability of Western-supplied interceptors and F-16 fighter jets. Moscow has escalated strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, while Kyiv has urged Western allies to urgently deliver air defense missiles and military support.

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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Ukraine
KEYWORDS: botched2022treaty; gofigure; imaginethat; literallypoootler; putinthewarpig; russianprojection; russophrenia; sendanothertrillion; shockinglyshocking; zeepharderforvictory

[SaxxonWoods]

"Kiev is freezing in the dark After fresh Russian attacks hammer Ukraine's energy infrastructure, more than 1 million residents are without electricity. Thousands of apartment blocks have lost heating as temperatures plunge below -20°. And as Russian drones tear through the skies, President Zelinski breaks a wartime taboo. He publicly blames his own air defenses. The performance of the air force against the shawheads is unsatisfactory. We have interceptors. Significant forces are engaged. Mobile fire groups. F-16s are available. But the organization of air force operations must be different. This is a rare moment of public accountability in the middle of war. Zilinski is acknowledging that despite Western weapons, interceptors, and even F-16s, Russian drones are still getting through. The message is blunt. Ukraine's defenses are under strain as Moscow escalates its aerial assault on cities, power grids, and civilian life."

[Texas Eagle]

Step down already, Volodymoort. While Ukraine still has a population.

[gibsonguy]

Little Zeke could have ended this a year ago but he listened to the rats and EU a-hole filling his head with fairy tales. Thousands have died in the meantime.

[Tell It Right]

80 years after WW2 we still make fun of the French for surrendering to Germany. Yet we say Zelensky is a fool for not surrendering to Russia.

I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make that decision.

[SaxxonWoods]

That message probably won’t go over well with Ukrainians. Sounds like Z is in a panic, attacking his own overwhelmed defense forces. It’s not THEIR fault they are running out of weapons and their missile/drone defense is failing.

The Mayor of Kiev told citizens to leave the city days ago due to lack of power. I’ve been reading for days that Ukraine’s defense against drones and missiles is not working well anymore. Ukraine is running out of weapons as well as troops now.

Ukraine propaganda says everything is great and Russia is on the ropes, so they’ve got that going for them.

[MMusson]

Strategic bombing in WWII against Germany was ineffective until they concentrated on the oil industry. Scattershot general bombing just caused the Germans to decentralize. But oil refining could not be decentralized. German armies ground to a halt without oil.

Russia focusing on the electric grid is a smart move.

[PGR88]

Yet we say Zelensky is a fool for not surrendering to Russia.

He can't. He needs permission from his controllers (and Ukraine government controllers) in Brussels and London for that. And they have said NO.

Zelensky is more likely to be assassinated by them, if he doesn't follow their script, then he is by Putin.

[Saintgermain]

Just think about all the frozen and busted water pipes, just about making things inhabitable.

[Texas Eagle]

Can’t imagine.

[InsidiousMongo]

There should be an Operation Valkyrie against Z.

It better be successful though.

[ConservativeMind]

I can’t imagine the amount of burst water pipes that will be coming.

That is a weapon of its own.

[ConservativeMind]

We think alike.

[SaxxonWoods]

“Russia focusing on the electric grid is a smart move.”

People were questioning why Putin didn’t wasn’t attacking Ukraine’s power since its dual use. But military observers said the electric grid was being left alone because that was part of Putin’s “limited military operation” orders.

The purpose of the operation was to get Ukraine to the negotiating table. Didn’t work, NATO/Ukraine has never been serious about the negotiations (not Z’s fault, he just takes orders) so Putin has escalated now and mobilized 300,000 new troops. I wonder where and how they will be used.

[T.B. Yoits]

Zelensky's disparagement of the "Ukrainian" Air Force points to non-Ukrainian pilots flying the aircraft.

Oops. He wasn't supposed to give that away.

[SaxxonWoods]

“Step down already, Volodymoort.”

Here’s why he’s still there:

“A former Ukrainian intelligence officer has made explosive allegations claiming that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s political survival is tied not to democratic legitimacy, but to deep-rooted Western financial interests. Speaking to Russian state news agency TASS, former SBU officer Vasyl Prozorov argues that Ukraine has turned into a massive corruption hub, generating enormous profits for political, economic, and defense stakeholders across the United States and Europe.
According to Prozorov, these vested interests ensure political protection for Zelensky, regardless of mounting criticism or instability. He alleges that Ukraine’s ongoing conflict has evolved into a lucrative enterprise, benefiting a wide network of Western institutions and industries—making Zelensky “too profitable” to remove. The claims, while unverified, add to growing narratives questioning the intersection of war, power, and profit in Ukraine.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSt1jE5YZFg

[Alberta's Child]

The Ghost of Kyiv can only do so much …

[SaxxonWoods]

This explains where all those glowing reports of Ukraine’s victories are coming from.

[odawg]

“Yet we say Zelensky is a fool for not surrendering to Russia.”

He is a bigger fool for destroying his country and countless lives for absolutely nothing.

He will surrender, eventually, when there are no more soldiers left to die and all Ukraine is turned into rubble.

[Robert DeLong]

This can’t be true, I have been told by people on this board that the Ukraine Air Force is having big successes. Can both then be true? /sarc

[SaxxonWoods]

“Can both then be true? /sarc”

Copilot seems to think so, for what that might be worth and who is writing the entry. It categorizes the skies as “contested, not controlled” by either side.