For the third consecutive year, Russia launched a major winter offensive against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, delivering a severe blow to the nation’s largest energy provider as freezing temperatures approach.
Russian forces unleashed a barrage of approximately 90 missiles, including cruise missiles, and 200 drones, in one of the largest attacks on Ukraine’s power grid. Western Ukrainian regions, including Lviv, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk, were targeted.
The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but reports indicate that at least half of Ternopil region experienced power outages, and DTEK, a civilian energy company, confirmed equipment damage.
“This marks the twelfth mass attack on Ukraine’s energy sector and the ninth on our company’s facilities this year,” DTEK stated, adding that no casualties were reported. “Since the full-scale invasion began, our thermal power plants have been attacked over 200 times.”
This large-scale attack follows reports suggesting Russia might employ its Oreshnik missile—first used last month—in another strike against Ukraine.
A U.S. National Security Council official indicated Friday that this attack could occur “as early as this weekend.”
Another official told Reuters earlier this week, “We assess that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine, which will fail.”
The threat of further significant attacks coincides with concerns about incremental Russian advances in Donetsk near Pokrovsk. These gains potentially provide Moscow with access to supply lines connecting the area to Zaporizhzhia.
However, according to open-source data from Estonian Colonel Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDE), Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks on Kurakhove, approximately 35 miles south of Pokrovsk, despite Russian attempts to encircle the town.
“Russian occupiers are throwing all available forces forward, attempting to break through the defenses of our troops,” Ukrainian army chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on Facebook late Wednesday.
Pokrovsk is a crucial defensive position for Ukraine in Donetsk; its loss would jeopardize Kyiv’s supply routes and its ability to defend against Russia’s efforts to seize the entire region.
The intensifying pressure on Ukraine in Donetsk overlaps with concerns about potential shifts in U.S. support as the Trump administration is set to assume office in late January.
President-elect Trump has not indicated whether he will maintain the current level of U.S. support for Ukraine. In a Thursday interview with Time magazine, he criticized Kyiv’s use of missiles.
“Anything can happen. Anything can happen. It’s a very volatile situation,” Trump said regarding the war in Ukraine. “I think the most dangerous thing right now is what’s happening, where [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy has decided, with the approval of, I assume, [President Biden], to start shooting missiles into Russia. I think that’s a major escalation. I think it’s a foolish decision.”
Biden ended his long-standing opposition to Ukraine using U.S.-supplied missiles to strike military targets in Russia in November, after years of requests from Kyiv.
Zelenskyy and other U.S. security experts have long argued that Ukraine should be able to retaliate against Russia’s prolonged and deadly invasion. They contend that striking weapons depots and Russian military positions used to launch attacks targeting Ukrainian civilians is crucial to altering the war’s course.