As the fierce winter rages on in Ukraine, millions of civilians are left without reliable access to heat and electricity, following a series of devastating Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. The situation has become so dire that the Ukrainian government has been forced to set up “warming tents” across cities to help people stay warm.
The recent strikes on January 20th left around 5,600 apartment buildings in Kyiv without heating, affecting nearly half of the capital’s population. This crisis is exacerbated by the centralized nature of Ukraine’s Soviet-era heating systems, which rely on a network of thermal power plants, pipes and pumping stations to distribute hot water across entire neighbourhoods.
Ukraine’s energy system was historically linked to Russia as part of a centralized grid, giving Moscow a deeper understanding of the country’s vulnerabilities. Experts suggest that Russia’s knowledge of these Soviet-era systems has allowed it to target Ukraine’s energy hubs with precision, crippling the ability to restore power and heating in the aftermath of attacks.
“The challenge in Ukraine is more severe than it might be in other countries because of the centralized systems for water, sewage and heating used by its urban neighbourhoods, known as district heating,” explains Pauline Sophie Heinrich, a Lecturer in War Studies, Climate and Energy Security at King’s College London.
These district heating networks, which serve tens of thousands of citizens across multiple buildings, are inherently vulnerable to physical damage. Disruption to a major transmission pipe or the loss of a key pumping station can disable heating across entire neighbourhoods, particularly during the winter months.
Russia has already damaged around 8.5GW of Ukraine’s power generation capacity since October 2025, accounting for roughly 15% of the country’s pre-war output. With supply and demand barely in balance, there is little room to redistribute energy within the system.
The situation is exacerbated by Russia’s use of “double-tap” strikes, where a second attack follows shortly after the first, endangering emergency services and repair crews rushing to restore critical services. This tactic forces Ukrainian authorities to balance the urgent need for infrastructure repairs with the risk to worker safety.
Even before the war, Ukraine’s energy network had inherent weaknesses, with aging water systems and heating equipment in dire need of reconstruction. However, the country had begun to reduce its technical reliance on Russia prior to the invasion, integrating its grid with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity in March 2022.
The devastating cycle of repeated strikes in the middle of a bitterly cold winter has intensified Russia’s campaign of “energy terror” against the Ukrainian people. As the struggle to restore heat and power continues, the human cost of this conflict continues to mount.
