Russia Denies Bombing Ukraine’s Energy Grid, Yet Over 1,100 Attacks Say Otherwise

In February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Lavrov said that during the meeting the United States proposed a moratorium on attacks against energy facilities, which he dismissed, falsely asserting that Russia had not attacked Ukrainian energy facilities.

“We explained that we have never endangered the civilian energy supply systems and that our targets have only been facilities directly serving the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” claimed Lavrov.

Russian attacks have devastated Ukraine’s energy system, leaving millions without electricity, heating, or water. Nearly 90% of the country’s thermal power plants and 40% of its hydroelectric capacity have been destroyed, plunging entire communities into darkness. Solar farms, gas-fired power stations, and substations have also been deliberately struck, with Russia intensifying its assault in mid-2024, targeting energy transmission systems to further disrupt daily life. These attacks, far from being military necessities, are calculated efforts to inflict suffering on civilians, especially during extreme weather conditions.

Russia has carried out more than 1,100 massive attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure since the beginning of its full-scale invasion. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy reported that, as of November 2024, Russia fired on Ukrainian energy facilities more than 1,000 times including more than 900 attacks on power transmission facilities and more than 220 attacks on power grid facilities.

Russia’s massive strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in 2024

Coming into the winter, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as a means of attacking the civilian population. These extensive infrastructure bombing campaigns left Ukrainians cold, without electricity or heating, in the winter months. Here are some of Russia’s latest massive strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid:

December 25, 2024 — On Christmas day Russian forces launched a massive strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure which included 70 missiles, including ballistics, and over 100 drones. The attack resulted in rolling blackouts throughout Ukraine.

December 13, 2024 — Russia launched a large-scale attack targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using 287 aerial weapons—94 missiles and 193 drones—aiming to sever its power grid connection with Europe. This assault damaged critical components involved in cross-border energy operations, disrupting both export and import capabilities, and leading to widespread power outages that severely impacted civilian life across the nation.

November 28, 2024 — Russia launched one of its largest air assaults on Ukraine, deploying nearly 200 missiles and drones targeting critical energy infrastructure across major cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Lutsk, and Rivne. The attacks resulted in widespread power outages, leaving at least one million people without electricity.

November 17, 2024 — Russia launched a massive air assault on Ukraine, deploying 120 missiles and 90 drones targeting critical energy infrastructure. The attacks resulted in at least seven fatalities, including two in Mykolaiv, two in Nikopol, two in Odesa, and one in Lviv, and caused widespread power outages across multiple regions. Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted 144 out of 210 aerial threats during the assault.

Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s hydroelectric and thermal infrastructure

Russia has targeted every hydroelectric station in Ukraine, alongside numerous thermal power plants. These strikes on energy infrastructure go beyond disrupting Ukraine’s power grid—they have inflicted lasting damage on civilians and the environment over the past three years.

The most notable of these attacks was the June 6th, 2023 attack on the Kakhovka dam in Kherson. Russian forces had already damaged the gates of the dam on their retreat from Kherson at the end of 2022, but the attack on June 6th destroyed the entirety of the dam, leading to massive flooding and destruction.

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War in Ukraine

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Since then, and even before, Russia has continuously worked its way north up the Dnipro River targeting the country’s most critical infrastructure including the Dnipro Hydroelectric Plant (DPP). The structure of the DPP is not only a dam but also includes a bridge linking the north and south sides of the city of Zaphorizia. Russia has targeted the DPP over three times over the past three years with cruise missiles, not only damaging the dam itself but killing innocent civilians along with it.

Further north still is the Kyiv Dam, a 440 MW hydroelectric plant that plays a key role in Ukraine’s energy grid and climate regulation. In August 2024 Russia launched a nationwide strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using drones, cruise missiles, and Kinzhal missiles. Nationwide strikes such as these have occurred since the beginning of the full-scale invasion dating back to October 2022 when Russia launched 84 cruise missiles and 24 suicide drones across Ukraine over a two-day period. The strikes damaged 30% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure leading into the winter.

UNITED24 Media has previously reported on all the times Russia has targeted dams in Ukraine, underscoring their strategic and humanitarian impact.

Russian forces have also launched a series of devastating strikes on Ukraine’s thermal power stations. On April 11, 2024, missiles struck the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant near Kyiv, resulting in its complete destruction. Less than one month before it targeted the Zmiivska Thermal Power Plant in the Kharkiv region on March 22, 2024, leaving it in ruins. The list goes on; the Kurakhove Power Station in Donetsk region, the Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant in western Ukraine, the Ladyzhyn Thermal Power Plant in Vinnytsia region. Most recently was the Mykolayiv Thermal Power Plant which was attacked on February 16, 2025, and left at least 100,000 residents without heating amid freezing temperatures.

Setting the record straight

Russia’s claim that it has never targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is not just misleading—it is a bald-faced lie. The evidence is overwhelming: from repeated missile strikes on power plants and substations to deliberate attacks on hydroelectric dams, Russia has systematically sought to cripple Ukraine’s energy grid, leaving millions of civilians in darkness, cold, and danger. It has even gone so far as to strike an active nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), putting the broader region itself at risk of nuclear fall radiation. These strikes serve no military purpose beyond inflicting suffering and creating chaos, particularly as winter approaches.

Disinformation has long been a key tactic in Russia’s playbook, but the facts speak for themselves. Every attack, every strike, and every blackout is a stark reminder that Russia’s war on Ukraine is also a war on basic human survival and a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention. As the war continues, it is more important than ever to cut through propaganda, hold aggressors accountable, and ensure the truth is heard.