Russian strikes on energy: Kremlin seeks to make part of Ukraine uninhabitable

Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, attempting to make parts of the country uninhabitable. The Kremlin’s goal is to destroy energy networks, cause a humanitarian crisis, and provoke mass emigration.

This is reported by The Economist .

Journalists have noted that Vladimir Putin is incapable of achieving a military victory, so he seeks to destroy Ukraine through energy terror. Russian troops are striking power grids, heating systems, and gas infrastructure on the eve of winter to disrupt industry and cause panic among the population.

“The Kremlin is acting even more cold-blooded and cynical than before. A few days before the meeting between Trump and Zelensky, missiles and drones cut off the water supply to the Ukrainian capital. For the first time, the Kyiv metro was left without electricity. Attacks on frontline areas such as Sumy and Chernihiv left parts of these regions without electricity for several days,” the journalists reported.

The publication emphasizes that Ukraine has significantly strengthened its air defense, developing technologies for intercepting missiles and drones. At the same time, Russian tactics have also evolved: instead of expensive missiles, the Kremlin uses inexpensive and modernized Shahed drones, which operate in massive waves and can overcome air defenses thanks to artificial intelligence.

“Drones also attack differently, approaching from near-vertical positions, above machine gun range, similar to missiles. And there are many more of them now,” the material says.

According to journalists, Russia is now concentrating its attacks on energy production and distribution facilities. Over the past three weeks, several thermal power plants and perhaps half of Ukraine’s gas production have been shut down. This has forced the country to spend about $1.9 billion on gas imports.

Russia is also focusing its attacks on the border regions — Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions, trying to divide Ukraine into two parts and paralyze energy supplies from west to east.

Ukraine already has experience in countering such attacks. It is creating new units to protect energy facilities, repairing damaged infrastructure, and deploying mobile backup systems.

“A achievable goal may be to slow down the destruction from Russia enough to have time to replace damaged equipment. But this winter looks set to test resilience like never before. Long power outages in many regions are a real prospect,” the journalists warned.

The publication emphasizes that possible consequences of the attacks could include not only power outages, but also gas supply disruptions.

“Putin, having smelled blood, is unlikely to stop. In previous years, his attacks only strengthened Ukraine’s resolve. This time they may be more effective,” the publication concluded.

It was previously reported that Russia has revised its tactics for shelling Ukrainian energy infrastructure and is now not trying to destroy the system all at once, but rather seeks to gradually disable it.

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