Ukraine Prepares for Harsh Winter Amid Intensified Russian Air Strikes

Ukraine is racing against time as winter approaches, striving to strengthen its air defenses and repair its damaged power grid. The urgency comes in light of escalating Russian air strikes, which are aimed at the “complete destruction” of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. On Friday, drones struck civilian infrastructure in the northern region of Sumy, just a day after Russia launched an extensive attack involving 52 missiles and over 600 drones across the country. The assault included strikes on western areas before concluding with a bomb attack in the eastern city of Sloviansk, resulting in the deaths of two power workers.

Maxim Timchenko, chief executive of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, emphasized the critical nature of the situation. “Based on the intensity of attacks for the past two months, it is clear Russia is aiming for the complete destruction of Ukraine’s energy system,” he stated. Timchenko called on Ukraine’s allies to increase supplies of replacement energy equipment, emergency funding for rebuilding power stations, and to urgently reinforce Ukraine’s air defenses.

As winter looms, many officials anticipate this season to be the most challenging since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Ukraine has lost approximately two-thirds of its power-generating capacity due to bomb damage and occupation, notably following Russia’s seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, at the onset of the war. There are growing concerns that Ukraine’s air defenses could be overwhelmed by increasingly destructive drone attacks.

Pavlo Bilodid, a spokesman for DTEK, highlighted the changing nature of these attacks. “The scale of attacks is much bigger now because they have far more ‘kamikaze’ drones,” he explained. These drones, some of which are made in Russia and Iran, possess a wingspan of 2.5 meters and can carry a 90-kilogram warhead. Bilodid noted that while a massive attack last year involved 150 to 200 drones, current assaults could see numbers soar to 400, 600, or even 800 in a single night.

Ukrainians have begun to adapt to a grim routine of scheduled blackouts, preparing for the harsh winter by charging phones, power banks, and torches. Those living near the front lines, particularly in cities like Kharkiv, Sumy, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and Mykolaiv, face the most severe challenges. Among the most vulnerable are the elderly and the displaced, constituting a significant portion of the 3.7 million people uprooted by the war.

Marit Glad, the country director in Ukraine for the Norwegian Refugee Council, expressed grave concerns about the situation. “Every day without stable heating or electricity endangers lives, especially among displaced people, elderly residents, and families with children,” she said. Glad emphasized the unacceptable targeting of energy infrastructure, which is vital for civilian survival as temperatures drop. She urged the international community to enhance support for rehabilitating Ukraine’s energy capacity.

Despite the urgency for repairs, Russia’s air strikes continue to escalate. Moscow claims it is targeting facilities that support Ukraine’s defense industry while responding to drone and missile attacks launched by Ukrainian forces against Russian energy sites. In addition to power stations, Russia has targeted coal mines, and earlier this month, it severely disrupted approximately 60 percent of Ukraine’s gas production, complicating winter heating plans and forcing the government to allocate scarce resources for fuel imports.

Bilodid reflected on the transformation of Russian tactics. “This is something different from previous years—before, they didn’t target gas production directly, but now it has become a major target,” he remarked. While Ukraine aims to decentralize energy production to enhance resilience, it still relies on a system largely inherited from the Soviet era.

DTEK’s Bilodid stressed the urgent need for replacement equipment, noting that nearly four years of war have led to a depletion of spare parts. “We depend heavily on equipment coming from other Eastern European countries that have similar Soviet-era power stations—many of which are now decommissioned,” he explained.

As the conflict continues, Ukraine faces a relentless assault on its energy system, a strategy designed to weaken the nation both economically and militarily. “They want to destroy regular Ukrainian life—and we are doing everything humanly possible to stop them,” Bilodid concluded, underscoring the resilience of the Ukrainian spirit in the face of adversity.