KYIV, 26 December – The Russian Federation’s large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Christmas Day caused significant damage, particularly to thermal power plants and boiler stations providing heating to civilian homes.

On 25 December, at approximately 6:00 AM, Russian Federation armed forces launched a large-scale, coordinated attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, targeting critical facilities across multiple regions.

Ukrainian authorities reported that more than 78 missiles and 106 drones, including ballistic and high-precision cruise missiles, were deployed in the assault, with 113 munitions reportedly being intercepted by Ukrainian air defense. The attacks claimed the life of an energy worker and injured six more civilians in two regions of the country.

“The Christmas Day attack marks the 13th large-scale, coordinated assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this year,” said Danielle Bell, the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU). “The scale of the attack and its targets reflect a deliberate effort to degrade Ukraine’s energy systems and civilian resilience during harsh winter conditions, leaving hundreds of thousands without essential heating,” she added.

The attacks targeted thermal and hydroelectric power plants, causing severe damage at multiple power generating facilities. Emergency power cuts were implemented nationwide by UKRENERGO, the national power transmission operator in Ukraine. While power has been restored in most areas, rolling outages lasting four or more hours continue in many parts of the country, including Kyiv.

Kharkiv Region was particularly affected, with missiles damaging combined heating power plants and boiler houses that supply centralized heat and hot water, as well as residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Over 2,677 residential buildings lost heating due to damage to boiler houses and thermal power plants, affecting 500,000 subscribers. While repair works continue, nearly 100,000 subscribers in Kharkiv remained without heat as of Thursday afternoon.

More than 250 residential buildings also reportedly lost heat in the Dnipropetrovsk and Ivano-Frankivsk regions following damage to critical infrastructure directly serving thousands of subscribers, as temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. In Dnipro, authorities also reported that seven educational institutions and a hospital located near a power plant lost heating, requiring school closures and the evacuation of more than 100 patients.

Emergency crews and local authorities are working tirelessly to restore heating and power services. Restoration efforts remain critical, particularly in Kharkiv, where widespread heating outages persist.

For further background, please refer to HRMMU’s previous report on attacks on energy infrastructure and visualization of the impact.

Krzysztof Janowski
OHCHR
Spokesperson
krzysztof.janowski@un.org+380952300437