Damage from Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure has exceeded $45 billion
The largest waves of strikes occurred during the colder months of the year, when the civilian population’s daily lives are most dependent on electricity, heating, and water.
What happened?
At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, stated that the damage caused by Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure has already surpassed $45 billion.
According to Kuleba, such losses cannot be covered solely by the Ukrainian budget or international public funding. That is why Ukraine has presented a portfolio of 30 public-private partnership projects to its partners. These projects cover urban transport, aviation, railways, roads, and water supply.
Overall, as of the end of 2025, Ukraine’s direct war-related damage exceeded $195 billion. Meanwhile, recovery and reconstruction needs over the next decade are estimated at nearly $588 billion. The housing stock, transport infrastructure, and energy sector suffered the most damage. In 2025, the number of damaged or destroyed energy facilities rose by 21%, while the transport sector’s needs increased by approximately 24% due to intensified attacks on railways and ports. These figures come from the Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA5) released by the World Bank, the Government of Ukraine, the European Commission, and the United Nations.
When Russia Struck Infrastructure Hardest
Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure have continued since the start of the full-scale invasion, but they have been most massive leading up to or during the colder months of the year. It is precisely during these times that the civilian population’s reliance on electricity, heating, water, transport, and medical services is most critical. In the autumn of 2022, Russia launched a large-scale campaign of strikes against Ukraine’s energy system. In December 2022, Human Rights Watch noted that attacks in October and November alone had deprived millions of civilians of access to electricity, water, heating, and other essential services. At the time, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office reported 92 attacks on energy infrastructure over just two months.
In 2024, Russia once again sharply intensified its strikes on the electric power system. Between March 22 and August 31, Russian armed forces carried out nine waves of massive, coordinated attacks. As a result, electricity generation, transmission, and distribution facilities were damaged or destroyed. A particularly dangerous development was that, this time, Russia targeted power generation facilities—thermal, hydroelectric, and solar—more frequently. Approximately 9 gigawatts of generating capacity were destroyed or damaged—roughly half the volume Ukraine requires during the winter months. By June 2024, 73% of the country’s thermal power units had been put out of commission.
Attacks intensified again in the lead-up to the winter of 2025. In October, Russia carried out three major attacks on energy infrastructure, resulting in emergency power outages across most Ukrainian regions. In November, another five large-scale, combined attacks on the energy sector occurred. These strikes caused problems not only with electricity but also with heating and water supplies in many communities.
In January 2026, Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure almost daily. At least five of these attacks were large-scale, with facilities in multiple regions coming under fire simultaneously. Damage was recorded in at least 17 regions, including Kyiv. The consequences included prolonged power outages and disruptions to heating and water supplies. Millions of people had access to electricity for only a few hours a day.
Overall, according to analysts at DiXi Group, Russia has carried out at least 64 massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since February 24, 2022. During these strikes, Russian forces deployed approximately 12,700 attack drones and 2,900 missiles of various types. The nature of the attacks has evolved. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia targeted oil refineries and fuel depots, among other facilities. However, starting in the autumn of 2022, strikes on the energy grid became a sustained campaign. The scale of these attacks increased significantly from 2025 onwards: while Russia used about 2,800 missiles and drones between 2022 and 2024, that figure rose to 12,800 in the period spanning 2025 and early 2026. At the same time, Russia has been gradually expanding its list of targets; strikes now hit not only energy facilities but also logistics networks, railway infrastructure, and water supply systems.
International Perspective
International Humanitarian Law does not automatically prohibit every strike on infrastructure. However, it establishes clear limitations. Parties to a conflict must always distinguish between civilian objects and military targets. Attacks may be directed only at military targets, and civilian objects must not be targeted. Even if a specific infrastructure facility holds military significance, a strike against it must comply with the principle of proportionality. That is, the expected harm to civilians and civilian objects cannot be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
Special protection is afforded to objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. These may include facilities related to water supply, food, heating, and other basic human needs. Their destruction or incapacitation can place the civilian population in a situation where basic survival becomes a daily struggle.
Thus, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court explicitly classifies the intentional targeting of civilian objects—as well as attacks likely to cause excessive harm to civilians relative to the anticipated military advantage—as war crimes.
In March 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian commanders Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov in connection with strikes on Ukrainian electric power infrastructure carried out between October 2022 and March 2023. They are suspected, among other things, of war crimes involving attacks on civilian objects and the infliction of excessive harm on civilians.
Therefore, if infrastructure strikes target civilian objects or result in disproportionate consequences for the civilian population, they may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law and become grounds for international criminal prosecution.
