The Darnytsia thermal power plant, the capital's most important, was battered in Russia's massive barrage on Tuesday, launched on the eve of the talks in Abu Dhabi.

"Experts conclude that the facility has suffered critical damage and that it will take at least two months to restore its systems," Klitschko said, referring to the Darnytsia plant.

"This thermal power plant provided heat to more than 1,100 high-rise buildings in the Darnytsky and Dniprovsky districts," he added.

Touring the site on Wednesday, AFP saw the vast extent of the damage to the plant, where almost nothing was left intact.

"It was like from a dystopic movie scene," EU ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova told AFP after the visit.

Tuesday's strike on Ukraine's battered energy facilities was "the most powerful" since the start of 2026, the country's largest private energy provider said.

Recent Russian strikes have repeatedly cut power and heating to tens of thousands of homes in the coldest winter since the start of the invasion in 2022.