All articles tagged with #energy infrastructure
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Ukraine plans to sabotage Hungary’s energy system and ordered troops and police to guard critical energy facilities, escalating tensions ahead of the April parliamentary elections; he also blocked a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine and imposed a border flight ban, while Kyiv reports the Druzhba pipeline damaged by a Russian airstrike and under repair.
Missile strikes hit Russia overnight, causing Belgorod to suffer blackouts and disrupting electricity, water, and heating; reports also cited blasts in other cities and an attack on the Kaleikino oil-pumping station in Tatarstan, underscoring renewed targeting of Russia’s energy infrastructure amid the war. Ukrainian comment on the strikes was not available at publication.
South Korea protest over a large Russian embassy banner in Seoul, while Hungary vowed to block the EU’s next sanctions package until Ukraine restarts oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline. Putin emphasized expanding Russia’s nuclear triad as START expires. In Ukraine, a deadly Lviv attack left a police officer dead and 24 wounded as Russia fired missiles and drones at energy and transport targets nationwide, causing outages in Belgorod and prompting temporary Moscow airport closures after drones were downed; air defenses intercepted many drones, and Kyiv urged stronger defenses as Moscow and Washington remain outside arms-control pacts.
ISW reports that overnight Feb 16–17, 2026 Russia launched a large, energy-focused strike against Ukraine using roughly 425 drones and missiles from multiple directions, with Ukraine downing most cruise missiles but not all ballistic missiles and causing outages in Kharkiv and Odesa regions. The attack precedes trilateral Geneva negotiations and appears sized to pressure talks while keeping strike levels below peaks seen earlier in the war. Ukraine continues long-range strikes on Russian rear targets and fighting persists across several axes; Kremlin messaging, including Patrushev’s escalatory rhetoric, stresses hardline demands while Moscow reportedly contemplates a short-term moratorium on energy strikes in talks.
Ukraine says Bryansk region endured its most powerful and widespread attack yet, with ballistic missiles and drones launched toward Kyiv and aimed at crippling energy facilities; authorities report hundreds of unmanned aircraft shot down (about 229) and note Russia’s air defenses are stretched along the border, making Kyiv’s flight times a matter of minutes. Kyiv and analysts say such strikes serve to deter Ukraine, while Zelenskyy warns Moscow could mount a new large-scale assault as tensions rise.
ISW assesses Russia is unlikely to abandon its original war demands in the Feb 17–18 Geneva talks, signaling a push on territorial issues and potentially masking concessions with a short-term energy-strikes moratorium while stockpiling weapons. Moscow is expanding drone capabilities through the BARS-Sarmat center and GRU-linked units, and Western reporting suggests sabotage networks in Europe may be leveraged by Russian intelligence. In Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have struck energy infrastructure in Belgorod and Bryansk, while Russian operations continue across northern Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia fronts and Ukraine plans to raise energy ceasefire questions at the talks.
Ukraine says a drone strike hit a Russian oil terminal at the port of Taman and an air‑defence site in Crimea as Moscow escalates its drone campaign, with debris and outages reported in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia ahead of Geneva talks; Kyiv says long‑range strikes aim to cut Moscow’s oil revenue and seeks security guarantees, while Western leaders weigh concessions at the Munich Security Conference.
The article argues Moscow’s mass strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid aren’t genuine retaliation for Kyiv’s actions but a deliberate tactic to cripple Ukrainian society by hitting civilian energy infrastructure. Ukraine counters with long-range strikes against oil production to hobble Russia’s war funding, while civilian harm and blackouts rise, highlighting stark differences in targets and raising concerns about the legality and morality of Russia’s approach.
Kyiv endures one of its coldest winters as Russia continues strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands without heat or electricity and forcing residents into shelters and make‑shift warmth. With schools closed, homes plunged into subfreezing conditions and deaths from hypothermia mounting, civilians improvise with generators, stoves and tents while officials call the situation a humanitarian crisis and plead for international aid.
Russia's strikes on Ukraine's energy grid leave hundreds of thousands in extreme cold with limited heat and electricity; Kyiv and other cities face multi-day outages as authorities set up heating points and repair efforts continue amid ongoing attacks on critical infrastructure.
ISW reports Russia launched a major strike against Ukraine’s energy system, specifically targeting substations supporting nuclear power plants, while leveraging a temporary moratorium on strikes to stockpile drones and missiles for further attacks. The United States is pressuring Ukraine to move toward a peace deal, while Russia remains adamant that Kyiv concede fully. Separately, Russian forces have advanced near the Kostyantynivka–Druzhkivka area and near Pokrovsk, and a February 6 assassination attempt is said to have left GRU deputy head Vladimir Alekseyev alive.
President Zelensky says Washington has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a peace agreement, with U.S. pressure likely if no deal emerges as talks may move to a trilateral format in the near term. Meanwhile Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid have forced nuclear plants to cut output and prolonged outages, complicating diplomacy as Kyiv reiterates its Donbas positions and skepticism toward proposals like a Donbas-free economic zone.
Ukraine reportedly struck energy facilities in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast using Neptune missiles and HIMARS, disrupting power in seven municipalities, according to Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims at publication and Ukraine’s military had not commented. FIRMS satellite data indicated fires at the plant, and Belgorod experienced blackouts as part of the same night’s disruption. The Neptune system was developed in Ukraine and has seen upgrades since the Moskva’s 2022 sinking, with Kyiv and Moscow trading broader war-time statements amid ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure.
Zelensky says the US wants the Russia-Ukraine war ended by June and has invited Ukraine and Russia to talks in the United States (likely Miami) next week; Washington and Moscow have not commented, while Russia continues strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing blackouts as a second US-brokered peace round in Abu Dhabi ends without a breakthrough and a trilateral leaders’ meeting is being considered.
President Zelenskyy said the U.S. has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal to end the war, with trilateral talks likely next week (possibly in Miami) and a renewed push to end fighting by early summer. Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid continue to disrupt power and push nuclear plants to reduce output, while Kyiv maintains hard lines on Donbas and Zaporizhzhia issues; Washington has floated a ceasefire on energy infrastructure and a Russian economic proposal known as the Dmitriev package as part of the negotiations.