Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure have plunged millions into darkness and cold. With temperatures below minus ten degrees Celsius, the worst energy crisis since the war began is pushing some to the brink.

Kyiv

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Russian attacks on Kyiv's energy and heating infrastructure have resulted in widespread blackouts and left hundreds of thousands of residents without heat. Repair workers are working around the clock to restore services, but the scale of the damage means many, including vulnerable groups, remain affected. 

City officials have deployed mobile heating units and established resilience points, but these measures are insufficient to meet the needs of the population. Political tensions have also surfaced, with criticism over crisis management and a lack of national leadership during the ongoing emergency. Ukrainian authorities have recorded over 250 attacks on energy infrastructure since October, with further strikes anticipated.

Russian infrastructure attacks push Ukrainians to the brink

These pipes take hot water to the heating systems of Kyiv. Russian attacks are damaging everything. No electricity means pumps stop, leaving water to cool. And during the blackouts, the water temperature in these pipes changes, which makes the metal more corrosive, which can lead to the pipes breaking. Workers here are out in the cold 24-7, trying to repair the damage. You don't have to motivate anyone. The workers are determined. They understand everything themselves. And they're ready to restore things as quickly as possible, so that people get their heat back. But they're fighting a losing battle to keep the heat on. Many of the capital city's 3.5 million people are stuck in the cold. And blackouts are hitting nearly everyone. It's especially difficult for the most vulnerable. A nursing home here in the capital lost power and heating after the large attack on January 8. Best efforts could only fix it in places. They're using a mobile heating unit to warm up the remaining buildings. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has come to inspect the site. The city deployed more than 70 like this, for community and care centres. A drop in the ocean, given the overall situation in the capital. We have an enormous lack of electricity, also heating. More than 500 buildings are without heating right now. That's a few hundred thousand people. We're fighting and giving it our all to restore heating, to restore services to people. Earlier this winter, Mayor Klitschko suggested that people who could, should leave Kyiv for a while. President Zelensky criticized him for the comment, saying he hadn't prepared properly for the cold. Meanwhile, during this crisis, the national government went weeks without an energy minister. A crisis becomes a stage for political differences. The Russians are putting pressure on Ukrainian politicians and people by using the winter as a weapon. Hitting the same energy infrastructure again and again. The dark shows up the depth of the crisis. The Darnitsky district is one of the worst affected by the blackouts. This is what they call a resilience point run by the city. It offers an opportunity to warm up and use electricity. Anastasia came here with her 20-month-old daughter, Stefania, who has bronchitis. Yesterday, there was no power all day. They switched it on at around 2 in the morning and turned it off sometime around 4. Her daughter seems to take it relatively well. It's good that she doesn't panic. She's strong with us. But it's hard, of course it's hard. How am I supposed to explain to her where we are, these conditions? But it has to be done. Maria just collected her children, Alia and Mohamed, from daycare. She worries they've already forgotten what a normal life is like. It's difficult. It's constantly dark and we have to walk with flashlights. Sometimes there's no hot water. Sometimes you can't make tea. Sometimes it's something else. We live on the 15th floor. Just to go up and down once, we walk the equivalent of 30 floors up and back. That's how we live, somehow. Ukrainian authorities have counted more than 250 cases of Russian attacks on energy and heating infrastructure since last October. More are expected in the coming days. Here's a reminder of our top stories for you. Venezuela's opposition leader, Maria Carina Machado, has presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to the US President Donald Trump at a meeting in the White House. Trump called it a wonderful gesture. And the UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss the deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran, which rights groups say has killed more than 3,000 people. The US ambassador warned Tehran that all options are still on the table, despite Donald Trump earlier seeming to walk back his threat of military intervention. For more UN videos visit www.un.org

The U.S. and Taiwan clinched a trade deal that cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse's exports, directs new investments in the U.S. technology industry and risks infuriating China.

Washington

U.S., Taiwan strike deal on tech tariffs risking China's ire

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss the deadly anti-establishment protests in Iran at the request of the United States. President Donald Trump has refused to rule out military action on Iran over the killing of protesters. Tehran has vowed to retaliate if that happens.

Tehran

Iran, U.S. clash at UN over protests as calls grow for restraint

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented President Trump with her real Nobel Peace Prize medallion during her visit to the White House on Thursday.

Machado gives Trump her Nobel Prize medallion at White House meeting

Tensions are soaring in Minneapolis as protesters face off against federal agents. As Matt Gutman reports, it comes after a Venezuelan migrant was shot by an ICE agent after allegedly trying to flee federal officers.

Minneapolis

Tensions flare in Minneapolis after second shooting by ICE agent

Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a U.S.-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. backs Palestinian civil engineer to administer Gaza

The U.S. has announced the launch of the second phase of President
Donald Trump's peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which will involve moving from a ceasefire to demilitarization.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Gaza deal's second phase to begin

CBS News met with fighters from an armed and outlawed Iranian opposition group in the mountains of northern Iraq who said the protests in Iran have given them hope. They believe the regime can be toppled "if the people who are demonstrating on the street get international help."

Iranian opposition group says protests give hope to topple regime

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday a "state of emergency" will be declared in the energy sector, after relentless Russian strikes on heat and electricity supplies during freezing winter temperatures.

Ukraine: Zelensky declares energy emergency after Russian strikes

Military personnel from several NATO countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Norway headed to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies prepared ⁠for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump over its security as he pushes to acquire the island.

Nuuk

Several European countries and NATO allies send troops to Greenland

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI said late on Wednesday it imposed restrictions on all users of its Grok AI chatbot that limit image editing after the service produced sexualized images that sparked concerns among global regulators.

California

Musk's xAI curbs Grok image editing after concerns

Protests in the U.S. city of Minneapolis as another person's been shot by an immigration officer.

Protest erupts in Minneapolis after ICE agent shoots man during raid

The United States has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating around $500 million, a US official said Wednesday, the first major energy transaction since Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this month.

Venezuela Strikes

United States completes first sale of Venezuelan oil

Denmark says fundamental disagreements remain with the US over the future of Greenland. President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over the territory 'one way or another', arguing anything short of full American control is unacceptable.

Greenland, Denmark say Trump set on ‘conquering’ territory after meet

Republicans in the Senate killed a resolution on Wednesday that would have put limits on President Trump's ability to take action in Venezuela. Vice President JD Vance had to step in to break the 50-50 tie.

Senate Republicans kill war powers effort to limit Trump on Venezuela

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted foreign ministers from Greenland and Denmark as President Donald Trump continues to insist on a U.S. takeover of Greenland.

Vance and Rubio meet with officials from Greenland and Denmark

At least 30 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand, at the site of a planned high-speed rail project intended to eventually link China with much of Southeast Asia.

Sikhio District

At least 30 people killed in Thailand train derailment

Tehran has warned neighbors hosting U.S. troops that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, as Iran seeks to deter Donald Trump's threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

Iran warns neighbors it could hit U.S. bases if Washington strikes

As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to China to ease trade tensions, President Donald Trump reiterated that the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA. Carney was also urged by Ontario’s premier to not back down on tariffs for Chinese EVs.

Ottawa

Trump says he doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA

United States President Donald Trump says he has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials and has told protesters to “take over your institutions” amid Tehran’s crackdown.

Trump cancels Iran meetings, urges protesters to take on institutions

Around 2,000 people including security personnel have been killed in protests in Iran, an Iranian official said, the first time authorities have acknowledged the high death toll from an intense crackdown on two weeks of nationwide unrest.

Iran official says 2,000 killed in nationwide unrest

Former President Bill Clinton is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee to testify as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has more.

Bill Clinton skips Epstein deposition on Capitol Hill

Former Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, who also served as the president of soccer club AC Ajaccio, was shot dead in Corsica on January 11 during his mother’s funeral. He was 71. Alain Orsoni was one of the leaders of the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in the 1980s. He later founded and led the Movement for Self-Determination (MPA).

Vero

Ex-Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni killed at mother's funeral

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who needs to have a graft conviction overturned to seize her best chance at the French presidency, risks seeing her life's work upended if she loses her appeal. It comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake-jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.

Paris

Marine Le Pen's appeal in EU fund embezzlement case opens in Paris

British regulators are investigating X for lewd AI images generated by Grok, the AI arm of Elon Musk's social platform. Michael Goodyear, an associate professor at New York Law School, joins CBS News with more.

London

UK investigating Musk's X over Grok's AI-generated images

As U.S. President Donald Trump weighs a response to Iran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, Iranian leaders say they are still keeping communications open with the Americans. But on January 12, large pro-government rallies took place across Iran, and the U.S. was clearly framed as the enemy and instigator of the protests.

Iranian leaders mobilise supporters as U.S. weighs intervention

Last week an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent shot and killed Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother who was observing a law enforcement action carried out by the agency.

Minnesota

Minnesota sues federal government to prevent further ICE deployment

The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years. Protests spurred by the Iranian currency collapse have morphed into a larger test of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule.

Trump weighs military action against Iran over protest crackdown

President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to safeguard Mexican sovereignty while cooperating with the US on key issues.

Mexico City

Mexico’s Sheinbaum rejects Trump’s threat of strikes on drug cartels

President Donald Trump said that any country which does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the U.S., as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.

Trump says nations trading with Iran will face 25% U.S. tariffs

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country is ready for war but also for dialogue, after US President Donald Trump said the US is considering ‘very strong options’ in response to Iran’s crackdown on antigovernment protests.

Russian infrastructure attacks push Ukrainians to the brink

Breakdown

See The Full Story

Ukraine Invasion