Photos: Ukrainians cope with winter cold amid blackouts

A person walks past a Point of Invincibility centre, a government‑run shelter that provides basic services and heat during blackouts, set up next to an apartment building left without heating and facing long power cuts after critical civil infrastructure was hit by recent Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
A person walks past a government‑run shelter that provides basic services and heat during blackouts, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 23 [Alina Smutko/Reuters]
People take shelter inside a metro station during a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 24, 2026. REUTERS/Yan Dobronosov
People take shelter inside a metro station during a Russian missile and drone attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 24 [Yan Dobronosov/Reuters]

Residents warm up and charge their electronic devices inside a tent of a government-run humanitarian aid point during a power blackout after critical civil infrastructure was hit by overnight Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine, January 24, 2026. REUTERS/Maksym Kishka TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Residents warm up and charge their electronic devices inside a tent of a government-run humanitarian aid point during a power blackout, in Chernihiv, Ukraine, January 24 [Maksym Kishka/Reuters]
Viktoriia Kostiuchenko, 69, stands by a window insulated with pillows to block freezing air from entering her apartment after critical civil infrastructure was hit by recent Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
Viktoriia Kostiuchenko, 69, stands by a window insulated with pillows to block freezing air from entering her apartment, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 23 [Alina Smutko/Reuters]

NATO wants ‘automated’ defences along borders with Russia: German general

NATO is taking steps to strengthen its defences along Europe’s frontiers with Russia by establishing an AI-supported “automated zone” that would not depend on troops on the ground, according to a German general.

This zone would serve as a defensive buffer before hostile forces could move into “a sort of hot zone” where conventional fighting might occur, General Thomas Lowin, NATO’s deputy chief of staff for operations, told the German news outlet Welt am Sonntag.

The automated area would have sensors to detect enemy forces and activate defences such as drones, semi-autonomous combat vehicles, land-based robots, as well as automatic air defences and anti-missile systems, Lowin said.

He added, however, that any decision to use lethal weapons would “always be under human responsibility”. The AI-guided system would reinforce existing NATO weapons and deployed forces, the general said.

Is Europe sliding closer to conflict with Russia?

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