Ukraine's Energy War — Slava Ukraini

Since the fall of 2022, Russia has waged a systematic campaign against Ukraine's electricity, heating and gas infrastructure — and Ukraine has repeatedly offered to stop hitting Russian refineries if Russia stops hitting Ukraine's grid. This page lays out what happened, and how many times the offer was made.

Researched 13 November 2026. Figures are attributed to their sources; where sources disagree, a range is given.

246

Weeks

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

since the full-scale invasion began — 24 February 2022

17,968

civilians killed — verified by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, as reported to the Security Council on 9 Nov 2026

57,713

civilians injured — verified by the UN, same source and date. 874 of the dead were children.

These are individually verified cases only — a floor, not a total. The UN updates the count about once a month; the true toll is higher.

The attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure

What began with a strike on Kharkiv's TEC-5 power plant in September 2022 became a seasonal campaign: every autumn, Russia launches waves of hundreds of missiles and drones at power plants, substations, hydro dams and gas facilities, timed to leave Ukrainians without heat and light in winter.

~38 GW → ~9–10 GW
Ukraine's available dispatchable generation capacity before the war, and where it stood by early 2026 (IEA). All 15 large thermal power plants have been damaged or destroyed. Thermal generation is 70–90% destroyed; about 60% of hydropower capacity was lost by February 2026.

1,225
Strikes on energy infrastructure in 2025 alone (ACLED) — more than in the first three years of the war combined, most of them in the final four months of the year.

$24.8bn damage · $88.2bn losses
Direct damage and economic losses to the energy sector, per the World Bank / EU / UN / Government of Ukraine assessment (data through 31 Dec 2025). Rebuilding the energy sector is estimated at $90.6bn over ten years.

Major attack waves

When	What happened
11 Sep 2022	Missiles hit Kharkiv TEC-5, Ukraine's second-largest power plant, cutting power across five regions.
10 Oct 2022	84 cruise missiles + 24 drones hit 14 regions; ~30% of energy infrastructure damaged. By 19 Nov, nearly half the grid was out and ~10 million people were without electricity.
6 Jun 2023	Kakhovka dam and hydro plant destroyed, removing a major hydro plant and flooding downstream areas.
22 Mar 2024	Largest attack on the energy sector to that point: 60+ drones and ~90 missiles. Dnipro HPP, the largest hydro plant, hit at least six times; Kharkiv left entirely without power (~700,000 consumers). (AP)
11 Apr 2024	Trypilska thermal plant (1,800 MW, Kyiv region) destroyed. Zmiivska and Ladyzhynska plants destroyed in spring 2024.
26 Aug 2024	127 missiles + 109 drones; ~8 million households without power; first unscheduled blackout in Kyiv since Nov 2022.
Winter 2024–25	Scheduled blackouts routinely 8–12 hours a day; nuclear carried 60–70% of generation.
3–4 Oct 2025	Biggest attack on gas infrastructure of the war; ~60% of gas production offline.
7–8 Nov 2025	450+ drones + 45 missiles; Centrenergo lost all generation — Trypilska and Zmiivska shut down.
9 Jan 2026	Strike left ~6,000 apartment buildings in Kyiv without heat, nearly half the city, at −20°C.
Feb 2026	Many Kyiv homes had power only 1.5–2 hours a day; all of Chernihiv lost power.
14 Oct 2026	39 ballistic missiles + 128 drones overnight; all three Kyiv combined heat-and-power plants hit at the start of heating season; ~600,000 people without electricity; 5 killed in Kyiv.
11–12 Nov 2026	Six major power substations hit across central Ukraine, second consecutive night of grid attacks; outages in eight regions. Kyiv blackouts up to 20 hours a day (BBC, 12 Nov).

The human cost

In the winter of 2025–26 — the hardest yet — millions of people had electricity for only a couple of hours a day in places, and hundreds of thousands were without heating and hot water for weeks as temperatures fell below −20°C, the coldest winter in Ukraine since 2010 (UN human rights monitors). Water was cut in multi-storey buildings, healthcare disrupted, schools closed. Older people, people with disabilities and women were hit hardest.

On 26 October 2026, the UN Commission of Inquiry found that Russian attacks on energy infrastructure constituted war crimes (intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects) and crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants over energy strikes, including for former defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of staff Valery Gerasimov.

Repairs are repeatedly undone: Trypilska was rebuilt after its destruction in April 2024, then re-damaged in September 2025 and hit again in 2026. Kyiv can no longer generate its own electricity — it depends on nuclear plants ~200 miles away, fed by high-voltage lines that are themselves targeted.

The moratorium — asked for again and again

Ukraine has not made this offer once. It has been proposed at least a dozen distinct times, in public and through the US, since August 2024. The core bargain has stayed the same throughout:

The deal: Ukraine stops striking Russian refineries and energy facilities if and only if Russia stops striking Ukraine's electricity, heating and water. No version ever offered a unilateral halt by Ukraine.

What changed over time was the form — from a symmetric halt to all energy strikes, to a time-bound 30-day moratorium with a defined facility list, to a specific refineries-for-grid exchange with US guarantees — and finally, when Moscow kept refusing, to a US substitute price: Patriot interceptors, or Starlink coverage over Russian launch sites.

The repeated asks

When	The proposal	Russia's response
Aug–Oct 2024	Qatar-mediated talks to halt strikes on each other's energy facilities as winter approached. Zelenskyy said a deal could signal willingness for broader peace talks.	No agreement. Talks came close in August, derailed by Ukraine's Kursk incursion. Kremlin spokesman Peskov called the report "fake news". Rejected
11 Mar 2025	At Jeddah, Ukraine proposed a ceasefire "in the sky and for the sea" — including energy infrastructure — and accepted the US proposal for a full 30-day ceasefire.	Putin rejected the full ceasefire; accepted only the narrower energy halt on 18 Mar. Partial
18–25 Mar 2025	US-brokered 30-day mutual moratorium on energy strikes, formalised at Riyadh. Kremlin list: refineries, oil/gas pipelines and storage, electricity generation and transmission, nuclear plants, hydro dams. (RFE/RL)	Accepted in form, disputed in fact. Both sides accused each other of violations almost immediately. Expired 18 Apr 2025, never extended. Expired
29 Jan–1 Feb 2026	US-initiated one-week pause: Trump said Putin had agreed not to fire on Kyiv and other cities for a week.	Disputed scope, then ended. Hours after it ended, Russia launched 71 missiles + 450 drones; 1,100+ Kyiv buildings without heat. Ended
6–7 Apr 2026	Zelenskyy, for Orthodox Easter: "If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will be ready to respond in kind." (Reuters)	Moscow reacted coolly, said it favoured an overall peace deal instead, and said it had received no "clearly formulated" proposal. No pause took effect. Rejected
3–7 Oct 2026	Foreign Minister Sybiha: Ukraine ready for an energy and Black Sea ceasefire, but only in combination. MFA listed five ceasefire formats under discussion with partners, including a US-proposed energy truce.	No Russian agreement reported. No answer
14–16 Sep 2026	Trump posted that both sides had agreed to halt energy strikes. Zelenskyy: "No" — no formal agreement, but Kyiv was prepared to support a US-proposed halt if Washington could secure a credible commitment from Russia.	Kremlin called it "a good one", then attached conditions including unhindered Russian oil exports. Strikes resumed within a day. No deal
22 Sep 2026	At the UN General Assembly, after a 40-minute meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready for "any format" of reciprocal energy ceasefire — halt refinery strikes if Russia stops targeting electricity, heating and water. (The Brief)	No Russian acceptance established. No answer
8–9 Oct 2026	Zelenskyy: Ukraine would stop striking Russian refineries if Russia stopped attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.	Peskov dismissed a sectoral truce, saying energy is Ukraine's "Achilles' heel". Russian negotiators sought sanctions relief and a Black Sea link in exchange. Dismissed
11 Oct 2026	Zelenskyy on ABC: "Don't attack us, don't kill our children. We will stop attack your diesel." Trump announced on Truth Social: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE… Both parties have agreed." (RFE/RL)	Never confirmed by Moscow. Russian strikes hit energy facilities in 19 regions in the first two days. Zelenskyy said he learned of the announcement from the media. Never confirmed
15 Oct 2026	Ukraine's three-day unilateral pause on refinery strikes ended. Zelenskyy: "The block is out. We're done." Condition for another halt: Patriot interceptors as the "minimum".	Russia continued strikes; no confirmation of any ceasefire. No deal
19 Oct–2 Nov 2026	New alternative, offered to the US: Ukraine would stop refinery strikes for 30 days in return for 30 days of Patriot interceptors — Kyiv willing to pay, not receive them as aid. Also raised: Starlink/Starshield over Russian territory to hit ballistic launchers.	No positive response. No answer
10–11 Nov 2026	Abu Dhabi trilateral talks (US-mediated). Agenda included an energy ceasefire, a Black Sea truce, prisoner exchanges. (Le Monde)	Rejected at the table. The Russian delegation said it had no mandate to discuss the energy ceasefire. Talks ended with no ceasefire — only a prisoner exchange in principle. Rejected

How Russia has answered

Russia has never unconditionally accepted Ukraine's reciprocal offer. The responses fall into four patterns:

Denial — "fake news" (Oct 2024); "no clearly formulated proposal" (Apr 2026); "terms never specified" (Oct 2026).
Conditions — sanctions relief, unhindered seaborne oil exports, reconnecting a Russian bank to SWIFT, linking the deal to the Black Sea.
Accepting a narrower US version, then disputing it — the 30-day moratorium of March 2025 and the one-week Kyiv pause of January 2026, both followed by mutual violation claims and expiry.
Continued strikes plus counter-accusation — strikes within hours of the 18 March 2025 agreement and within about an hour of the 11 October 2026 announcement, per Ukrainian officials.

Where things stand

As of 13 November 2026, there is no active energy ceasefire. The March 2025 moratorium expired in April 2025. The January 2026 pause ended in February. The October 2026 announcement was never confirmed by Moscow, had no published terms, and Ukraine's three-day pause ended on 15 October. The Abu Dhabi talks ended on 11 November with no ceasefire.

Ukraine's offer remains publicly open — a mutual energy ceasefire, or a one-month refinery pause in exchange for one month of Patriot interceptors — but there is no agreed text, no start date, no facility list, and no verification mechanism. And the strikes continued straight through the talks: six major substations were hit on the night of 11–12 November alone.

How to help

UNITED24 is Ukraine's official government fundraising platform — pick a cause (defence, medical aid, rebuilding, demining, education) and the money goes straight there. Over $3.9 billion raised since its launch.

Other trusted organisations: Come Back Alive (equipment and support for Ukraine's defence forces), Razom for Ukraine, and Nova Ukraine (humanitarian aid, US 501(c)(3)).

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Sources

International Energy Agency, "Ukraine's Energy Security 2025" · UN OHCHR, "Attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure" (Dec 2025–May 2026) · UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine (26 Oct 2026) · World Bank / EU / UN RDNA5 (Feb 2026) · Reuters, AP, RFE/RL, BBC · ACLED · Re-Russia · Centre for Information Resilience · FDD · Jamestown Foundation · Diplomacy & Law. Full source list with links is in the research notes for this page. Figures attributed to Ukrainian officials, the UN, IEA, World Bank or Russian officials are attributed as such; where sources disagree on a number, a range is given.

This is not the Russian people's war.
It is Putin's war — and the war of the Russian oligarchs.