Russia has launched waves of missile and drone strikes against energy in Ukraine as part of its invasion. From 2022 the strikes targeted civilian areas beyond the battlefield, particularly critical power infrastructure, which is considered a war crime. By mid-2024 the country only had a third of pre-war electricity generating capacity, and some gas distribution and district heating had been hit.
On 10 October 2022 Russia attacked the power grid throughout Ukraine, including in Kyiv, with a wave of 84 cruise missiles and 24 loitering munitions. Further waves struck Ukrainian infrastructure, killing and injuring many, and seriously affecting energy distribution across Ukraine and neighboring countries. By 19 November, nearly half of the country's power grid was out of commission, and 10 million Ukrainians were without electricity, according to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. By mid-December, Russia had fired more than 1,000 missiles and drones at Ukraine's energy grid. Several waves targeted Kyiv, including one on 16 May 2023 in which Ukraine said it had intercepted six Kinzhal missiles. During the first four years of the war, Russia launched approximately 12,700 drones and 2,900 missiles against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Deliberately depriving Ukrainians of electricity and heating during the cold winter months was the biggest attack on a nation's health since World War II. The attacks on power stations inflicted large economic and practical costs on Ukraine. The UK Defense Ministry said the strikes were intended to demoralize the population and force the Ukrainian leadership to capitulate. This is widely deemed to have failed.
The strikes were condemned by Western groups, with the European Commission describing them as "barbaric" and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg calling them "horrific and indiscriminate". President Zelenskyy described the strikes as "absolute evil" and "terrorism". The International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted four Russian officials for alleged war crimes connected with attacks against civilian infrastructure, including former minister of defence Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Background
In the early weeks of the war, aside from purely military fronts, plagued by poor assessments, preparations and blunders, Russia had bombed both information infrastructure and fuel facilities. Late February 2022 the Russian Ministry of Defence gave assurances that its troops were not targeting Ukrainian cities, but that its actions were limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. The ministry claimed that there were no threats whatsoever to the civilian population. For months thereafter, Russia continued to hit Ukrainian infrastructure such as railways, fuel depots and bridges, to hinder the delivery of weapons to the front lines. Those disruption efforts were mitigated via restoration of services and decentralised alternatives such as Starlink statellite internet services.
On 6 October the Ukrainian military reported that 86 Shahed 136 kamikaze drones had been launched by Russian forces in total, and between 30 September and 6 October Ukrainian forces had destroyed 24 out of 46 launched in that period.
According to the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence, Russian troops received orders from the Kremlin to prepare for massive missile strikes on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure on 2 and 3 October. On 8 October, the Crimean Bridge explosion shook a key symbol and military logistic line between Russia and Southern military fronts. Russia vowed to respond.
Timeline September 2022 On 11 September, after Ukrainian successes during its counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian missiles struck the Kharkiv TEC-5, the second largest power plant in Ukraine located near Kharkiv, leaving parts of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava and Sumy Oblast without power. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted the "Without You" speech on social media in condemnation of the attack, stating that Ukrainians "will be with gas, light, water and food ... and WITHOUT you [referring to Russia]."
Russian forces hit the Karachun dam on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih with up to eight cruise missiles on 14 September, damaging the gates, hydro-mechanical equipment, crane, and administrative buildings, and causing the river Inhulets to overflow its banks. Analysts said that such attacks are intended to suppress resistance by the Ukrainian population, and this one specifically attempted to damage Ukrainian pontoon bridges downstream. About 112 houses were flooded and evacuation took place in two city raions before the damage was mitigated. Russian sources had anticipated a much more devastating effect on the city.
October 2022 10 October
On 10 October 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine with a wave of 84 cruise missiles and 24 suicide drones. Russian missiles struck 14 regions of Ukraine, with the capital Kyiv being the most targeted. Explosions were reported in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in Western Ukraine; Dnipro and Kremenchuk in Central Ukraine; Zaporizhzhia in Southern Ukraine; and Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine. The missiles targeted key energy infrastructure and military command facilities, but missiles also hit civilian areas, including a university and a playground in Kyiv. Ukraine's Minister of Energy German Galushchenko said around 30% of the energy infrastructure in Ukraine had been damaged by the attacks. Ukrenergo reported that power supply interruptions in some cities and towns.
Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said there were several explosions in Shevchenkivskyi and Solomianskyi District. Advisor head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anton Herashchenko, said one of the missile struck near the Monument to Mykhailo Hrushevsky. Around 8:18 am local time, a missile struck the Kyiv Glass Bridge.
Explosions damaged Kyiv central railway station, but the station continued to operate. Subway trains stopped running and the underground tunnels of the Kyiv Metro became shelters for citizens.
The strikes damaged Ukrainian cultural and educational buildings, including the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Khanenko Museum, Taras Shevchenko National Museum and several other museums.
In the city of Zaporizhzhia, an apartment block was destroyed and a kindergarten was damaged.
As a result of rocket strikes on Lviv's energy facilities, the city went into a blackout. Hot water also stopped running in apartment buildings.
Three strikes targeted the power grid in Kharkiv. In some areas, water and electricity were cut off.
In the centre of Dnipro, the bodies of people killed at an industrial site on the city's outskirts were found, with windows in the area blown out and glass strewn on the street.
Strikes were carried out in Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr, as well as in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Sumy, and Poltava regions. Electricity and water supplies were disrupted in Poltava, and there were blackouts in the region.
11–31 October
On 11 October, seven people were killed and 49 injured by missile strikes on Kyiv. The Kyiv Metro's red line and the interchange node at Teatralna–Golden Gate were closed. Most underground stations continued to operate as bomb shelters. Areas struck by missiles included a playground. Fires broke out in six cars, and more than 15 cars were damaged.
On 14 October, Samsung Electronics confirmed that its Ukrainian branch office suffered minor damage when a missile exploded near the office at 101 Tower in Lva Tolstoho street; there were no reported casualties. A Russian missile damaged the German consulate at Kyiv, although no casualties were reported since the building was vacant.
On 17 October four civilians were killed by a drone strike in Kyiv. Five people were reported killed and eight were injured in the Zaporizhzhia region.
On 18 October a wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure caused blackouts affecting 1,162 towns and villages. President Zelenskyy said that 30% of Ukraine's power stations were out of action.
On 22 October Russia launched 33 cruise missiles against Ukraine's power grid. Ukraine's air force command said 18 missiles were shot down. Ukrenergo stated "the scale of the damage is comparable or may exceed the consequences of the attack on October 10–12". The missile strikes cut off electricity for 1.5 million Ukrainians.
On 27 October missile strikes reduced the country's energy capacity further, with the effect of extending the blackout periods in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Chensky, and northern Chernihiv regions.
On 31 October another mass missile strike against Ukraine's power grid left around 80% of Kyiv residents without running water.
November 2022
On 15 November Russian Forces launched 100 missiles and drones targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. President Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian anti-aircraft defences shot down about 70. Russian Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers launched Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles from the Caspian and the Rostov Oblast regions. 3M-54 Kalibr missiles were launched from the Black Sea.
On 17 November Russia launched a series of missile strikes targeting Ukrainian gas production facilities and the PA Pivdenmash missile plant. Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv.
On 23 November Ukrainian armed forces reported that around 51 of 70 Russian missiles were intercepted by air defences. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said around 21 out of 31 missiles launched to Kyiv were shot down. Missiles targeted civilian energy infrastructure and also struck apartment blocks and hospitals, killing at least six people. One of the missiles struck a hospital maternity ward at Vilniansk, killing a newborn baby. The attacks on the power grid caused more than half of neighboring Moldova to lose power.
December 2022 On 5 December Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said Russian missiles attacked energy facilities in Kyiv, Vinnystia and Odesa regions, which cut off the water supply in Odesa. Mykolaiv suffered power outages affected the surrounding region. In Zaporizhzhia, a missile attack killed at least two people and wounded three others including a child.
On 10 December seven Ukrainian oblasts were attacked by Shahed kamikaze drones which damaged Odesa's electricity grid, leaving 1.5 million residents without electricity. Despite power restoration, around 300,000 people were without electricity.
On 16 December Russia launched more than 70 missiles targeting Ukrainian infrastructure. Three people were killed in Kryvyi Rih after one missile struck an apartment block. Ukraine's energy minister German Galushchenko said nine power plants had been attacked, causing energy shortages. The Kyiv metro was also shut down.
Around 2:00 am local time on 19 December, a wave of Russian self-detonating drones attacked critical infrastructure in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Electricity grid operator Ukrenergo reported that despite most being shot down by anti-aircraft weapons, several energy facilities were hit.
On 29 December Ukrainian armed forces claimed 54 of 69 Russian missiles were intercepted, including 16 over Kyiv and 21 over Odesa. At least three civilians were wounded in Kyiv, and a civilian house was struck in Darnyts'kyi.
On 31 December Russia launched missile strikes on Ukraine which killed one and injured at least a dozen, including a foreign journalist. Ukrainian Army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said 12 of the 20 missiles were shot down by air defence and caused damage to a hotel and an isolated house in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials denounced the targeting of residential areas. The strikes had less impact on the national energy grid, yet 30% of Kyiv was without electricity.
January 2023 On 1 January 2023 Russian missile and drone strikes damaged infrastructure in Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Zaprorizhzhia and Kherson. At least two people were killed in the attacks.