Russia has unleashed the most powerful strike on Ukraine’s energy sector so far this year, a massive barrage of missiles and attack drones that struck power generation and distribution facilities across several regions and plunged large swathes of the country into darkness amid a freezing winter.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Russian forces launched a combined assault involving more than 70 missiles and hundreds of drones aimed at Ukraine’s electricity grid and thermal power stations. The attacks hit key energy facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and other oblasts, damaging combined heat-and-power plants and thermal power plants that were operating solely to provide heating in the depths of winter, BBC reported Tuesday late evening.
Energy company DTEK reported that the power system was operating under severe limitations after the strikes, with emergency power outages implemented in parts of the capital and other cities to stabilise the grid. Thousands of homes were left without electricity and heat in sub-zero temperatures as engineers worked to restore service, and authorities introduced temporary blackout schedules to manage the crisis.
Ukrainian officials described the latest barrage as the most intense strike on energy infrastructure since the beginning of the year, surpassing a string of earlier attacks that have targeted the country’s critical power network throughout the conflict. The assault also struck a DTEK facility in the Odesa region, and Ukrainian energy authorities said that consumers in regions including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia and Odesa were disconnected as a result of the damage. In parts of Kharkiv, local authorities took the extraordinary step of draining heating fluid from pipelines serving hundreds of apartment buildings to prevent heating systems from freezing and collapsing altogether.
The strikes came as Ukraine continues to negotiate with Russia and international mediators on efforts to curb hostilities, and have raised concerns about the resilience of Ukraine’s ageing energy infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the attacks as a deliberate effort by Moscow to undermine civilian life and morale during the harshest part of the winter. The timing of the escalation — amid freezing conditions that make power and heat essential for millions — highlighted the humanitarian toll of the extended conflict and underscored Ukraine’s urgent need for additional air defence systems and allied support to protect its energy assets.
Despite the intense bombardment, Ukrainian power engineers and officials vowed to stabilise the grid and expedite repairs, with emergency measures in effect to keep essential services running and limit further disruption. The latest onslaught marks a dramatic escalation in Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, continuing a pattern of attacks that have repeatedly damaged power plants, substations and distribution networks over the course of the war and driven up the country’s reliance on imported electricity to meet demand.