For many people in Ukraine, 2024 started just like 2023 ended — with Russian air assaults and rocket and drone attacks on infrastructure and homes. What’s new is the scale of the bombardment: the Russian military is trying to get past Ukraine’s air defenses by beefing up its firepower.

“The recent attacks and relentless hostilities have left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity and water supplies, at a time when forecasts indicate that temperatures might drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius [minus 4 Fahrenheit] in the coming days,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.