Russia doesn't have any chance on the battlefield, and it tries to compensate with terror
As winter tightened its grip on Ukraine in mid-October 2022, Russia turned its weapons not toward the front lines but toward the furnaces, pipes, and power lines that sustain civilian life. Across Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia, coordinated missile and drone strikes extinguished electricity and water for entire cities, killing at least four people and leaving hospitals running on generators. President Zelenskyy read the campaign as a confession of battlefield failure — an adversary unable to win through soldiers reaching instead for cold and darkness as instruments of war.
- Russia launched coordinated waves of missiles and kamikaze drones targeting energy infrastructure across multiple Ukrainian cities simultaneously, signaling a deliberate strategic shift away from the front lines and toward civilian suffering.
- In Zhytomyr alone, two successive missile strikes plunged an entire city into darkness and cut off its water supply, forcing hospitals onto backup generators as winter temperatures began to fall.
- A suicide drone tore through the wall of a residential building in Kyiv, killing four civilians — a stark reminder that this campaign of infrastructure destruction carries a direct and immediate human toll.
- Ukrainian leadership publicly framed the attacks as evidence of Russian desperation, arguing that a military losing ground on the battlefield had pivoted to terrorizing civilians as a substitute for battlefield victory.
- With winter approaching, the destruction of heating and water systems threatens to cascade into a full humanitarian crisis, testing both Ukrainian resilience and the resolve of the international coalition backing its defense.
On a Tuesday in mid-October, Russian missiles and drones swept across Ukraine with a grim consistency of purpose — not to strike soldiers, but to extinguish the infrastructure that keeps cities alive. In Zhytomyr, 85 kilometers west of Kyiv, two missiles hit an energy facility in quick succession, plunging the entire city into darkness and cutting off its water. Hospitals fell back on generators. The same day brought strikes on energy sites in Kyiv and Dnipro, while suicide drones ignited fires in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The campaign had begun the day before. On Monday, waves of kamikaze drones descended on Kyiv, setting buildings ablaze and partially collapsing them. One drone punched through the wall of a four-story residential building, killing four people. The attacks continued through the night, less a sporadic outburst than a deliberate escalation timed to the calendar.
President Zelenskyy addressed the nation that evening with characteristic directness. Russia, he argued, was resorting to these tactics precisely because it was losing on the battlefield. Eight months into the full-scale invasion, Moscow had pivoted from military pressure to civilian coercion — using drones and missiles to make ordinary life unbearable. 'Russia doesn't have any chance on the battlefield, and it tries to compensate for its military defeats with terror,' he said.
The timing was not incidental. Ukrainian winters are unforgiving. Without electricity, heating fails. Without water, sanitation collapses. By targeting energy infrastructure repeatedly and systematically, Russia was attempting to weaponize the season itself — turning the coming months into a siege conducted not with troops but with cold and darkness. For the people living through it, the immediate reality was deprivation. For those watching from outside, it was a measure of how far the war had traveled from the battlefield.
On a Tuesday in mid-October, Russian missiles and drones struck across Ukraine with methodical precision, cutting electricity and water to entire cities as the country braced for winter. In Zhytomyr, a city of military significance sitting 85 kilometers west of Kyiv, two missiles hit an energy facility in quick succession. The impact was total: the entire city went dark and dry. Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn confirmed that hospitals, suddenly dependent on backup generators, were the only buildings with any light. The strikes were not isolated incidents. The same day brought fresh attacks on energy infrastructure in Kyiv itself and in Dnipro, a major city to the south. In the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region, suicide drones—unmanned aircraft laden with explosives that detonate on impact—ignited fires at critical infrastructure sites.
The pattern had begun the day before. On Monday, waves of these kamikaze drones descended on Kyiv, targeting power facilities with apparent coordination. The explosions were violent enough to set buildings ablaze and partially collapse them. One drone punched through the wall of a four-story residential building, killing four people inside. The attacks continued through the night and into the following day, suggesting not a sporadic campaign but a deliberate escalation timed to the calendar.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the nation on Monday evening, his interpretation of the assault direct and unambiguous. Russia, he said, was resorting to these tactics because it was losing on the battlefield. Eight months into the full-scale invasion, the military situation had shifted enough that Moscow was pivoting toward a different kind of pressure—one aimed not at soldiers but at civilians. The drones and missiles were instruments of coercion, designed to break the will of a population by making daily life unbearable.
"Russia doesn't have any chance on the battlefield, and it tries to compensate for its military defeats with terror," Zelenskyy said. He framed the attacks as an attempt to pressure not just Ukrainians but Europe and the world beyond, a bid to fracture the coalition supporting Ukraine's defense.
The timing was deliberate. Winter in Ukraine is unforgiving. Without electricity, heating systems fail. Without water, sanitation collapses. Hospitals cannot function. The attacks were not random acts of destruction but a calculated campaign to inflict maximum civilian suffering as temperatures dropped. By targeting energy infrastructure specifically and repeatedly, Russia was attempting to weaponize the season itself, turning the coming months into a siege conducted not with troops but with missiles and drones.
What made this campaign distinct from earlier phases of the war was its apparent shift in strategy. Rather than concentrating on military targets, Russia was now systematically dismantling the civilian infrastructure that kept cities alive. The choice of weapons—suicide drones that could be produced in volume and deployed in waves—suggested a strategy of attrition and psychological pressure. Each strike was a message: nowhere was safe, nothing was secure, and the suffering would only deepen.
For the people of Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia, the immediate reality was darkness and cold. For Ukraine's leadership, the attacks were evidence of desperation. For the approaching winter, they were a harbinger of a humanitarian crisis that would test not just the country's resilience but the commitment of those supporting its defense.
Notable Quotes
Russia doesn't have any chance on the battlefield, and it tries to compensate for its military defeats with terror.— President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in televised address
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why target power plants specifically? Why not military installations?
Because power plants break a city without killing soldiers. A destroyed barracks is a tactical loss. A frozen hospital is a political one.
Is this new? Has Russia done this before?
Not at this scale or frequency. Earlier strikes were mixed—military and civilian. This feels different. It's systematic. Every attack hits the grid.
What does Zelenskyy mean when he says Russia is losing?
He means the battlefield math has turned. Russia can't advance anymore. So it's trying a different calculus: make life so hard that Ukraine sues for peace.
Will it work?
That's the question no one can answer yet. Winter will tell. If people freeze and the government holds, Russia failed. If people break first, it worked.
Four people died in one strike. How many total?
The source only names those four. But thousands are without power and water. The death toll is one measure. The suffering is another.
What happens next?
More attacks, almost certainly. Russia has the drones and missiles. Ukraine has to either repair the grid faster than it can be destroyed, or find another way to survive the winter.