Russia’s latest winter attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are aimed at breaking public resistance and forcing Kyiv to accept Moscow’s terms, Ukrainian officials say, as freezing temperatures intensify the humanitarian impact.
A wave of extreme cold, with temperatures in Kyiv plunging to –17°C, accompanied the strikes, leaving thousands of residents without heating and electricity. On January 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared a state of emergency in the energy sector, underscoring the direct consequences of the attacks on everyday civilian life.
Although partial power restoration has been achieved in several areas, Ukrainian authorities warn that continued strikes are a deliberate strategy to pressure the population into submission. One official described the campaign as “an attempt to destroy people, not just infrastructure.”
Despite the harsh conditions, residents of Kyiv insist their resolve remains unbroken.
“It’s extremely difficult, but it’s better to live in cold and darkness than under a Russian flag,” one resident told reporters.
Disinformation Campaign Intensifies
In parallel with the physical attacks, the Kremlin and pro-Russian media outlets have escalated coordinated disinformation efforts, shifting blame for the energy crisis onto Ukraine’s leadership. These narratives portray the destruction of infrastructure as a necessary measure, claiming civilian suffering is the result of Kyiv’s political choices rather than Russian missile and drone strikes.
Pro-Kremlin commentators frequently frame the crisis as a technical issue that can only be resolved by ending the war on Russia’s terms. In triumphalist articles, attacks on power facilities are openly described as a way to maximize civilian suffering and increase pressure on the Ukrainian government, according to EU DisinfoLab.
Even articles originally published by Western media outlets, including The New York Times, have reportedly been rewritten and manipulated on Telegram channels to reinforce pro-Kremlin messaging, falsely suggesting that Ukrainian society is nearing capitulation.
A Dual Strategy of War
Analysts emphasize that Russia is employing a dual warfare strategy:
- Weaponizing winter and energy deprivation to inflict physical hardship
- Exploiting that hardship through propaganda to undermine morale and resistance
Ukraine, they say, is facing not only freezing temperatures and power shortages, but also a sustained psychological war orchestrated from Moscow.
This latest wave of attacks and information manipulation demonstrates that the war is being fought far beyond the battlefield—directly against civilians and public perception—turning access to heat and electricity into instruments of coercion and political pressure.
