Russian offensive leaves over a million Ukrainians without heat amid freezing cold

Monday 12 January 2026 - 16:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Russian offensive leaves over a million Ukrainians without heat amid freezing cold

A relentless week-long Russian assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure has plunged more than a million civilians into darkness and cold during sub-zero temperatures. President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Moscow for timing the strikes to inflict maximum hardship on the population.

From January 6 to 12, Russian forces unleashed around 1,100 drones, over 890 guided aerial bombs, and more than 50 missiles on Ukrainian targets. Among them was a nuclear-capable hypersonic Orechnik missile that struck near Poland's border in western Ukraine. Zelensky highlighted that the barrage hit non-military sites, including power facilities and residential buildings.

In Kyiv, over 1,000 buildings remained without heating as of January 12, with daytime temperatures dropping to minus 10 degrees Celsius and even lower in some areas, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Zelensky described the attacks as deliberate and cynical terror against civilians, while Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko labeled them energy terrorism aimed at weaponizing winter. The January 9 barrage proved especially crippling, knocking out power and heat across most of the capital with 36 missiles and 242 drones, killing at least four people and injuring 25 others. Nearly 6,000 buildings half of Kyiv's total lost heating, prompting Klitschko to urge residents to leave the city if possible.

Repair teams labored around the clock nationwide. By January 12, about 85 percent of Kyiv's residential buildings had heat restored, though Svyrydenko cautioned that supplies remained precarious, with nearly 200 repair crews active in the Kyiv region alone. The Dnipropetrovsk region in the southeast suffered heavily, with over a million people initially cut off from heat and water after daily strikes on energy assets. In Odessa, a fresh attack on January 12 left 33,500 households without electricity.

The UN Security Council convened an emergency session on January 12 to address Russia's use of the Orechnik missile just 60 miles from NATO member Poland's border. The United Kingdom unveiled Project Nightfall, a program to supply Kyiv with tactical ballistic missiles capable of striking 500 kilometers into Russian territory. Defense Secretary John Healey cited the attacks as evidence of Vladimir Putin's belief in acting with impunity.

Ukraine struck back at Russian oil facilities, hitting three Lukoil drilling platforms in the Caspian Sea and a fuel depot in the Volgograd region. Power outages also lingered in Russia's Belgorod region, affecting about 600,000 residents following Ukrainian strikes on a power plant. The conflict, now in its 1,418th day matching the duration of the Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany sees Russian forces stalled for years in the same Donbass villages and towns, Zelensky observed.