During the autumn and winter of 2022–2023, Russia launched waves of missile and drone strikes against energy infrastructure as part of its invasion of Ukraine. The strikes targeted civilian areas beyond the battlefield, particularly critical power infrastructure, which is considered a war crime.On 10 October 2022, Russia attacked the power grid in cities throughout Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, with a wave of 84 cruise missiles and 24 suicide drones. Further waves periodically struck Ukrainian infrastructure, killing and injuring many, and seriously affecting energy distribution across Ukraine and neighboring countries. By 23 November, nearly half of the country's power grid was out of action and about half the civilian population were without electricity or heating. By mid-December, Russia had fired more than 1,000 missiles and drones at Ukraine's energy grid. Several mass waves targeted Kyiv, including one on 16 May 2023 in which six "unstoppable" Kinzhal missiles were claimed to be intercepted by Ukraine.
The WHO said that deliberately depriving Ukrainians of electricity and heating during the cold winter months was the biggest attack on a nation's health since World War II. The attacks on power stations inflicted large economic and practical costs on Ukraine. The strikes were assumed to be part of Russia's 'Strategic Operation for the Destruction of Critically Important Targets' (SODCIT) military doctrine, aimed at demoralizing the population and forcing the Ukrainian leadership to capitulate. This is widely deemed to have failed.The strikes were condemned internationally, with the European Commission describing them as "barbaric" and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg calling them "horrific and indiscriminate". President Zelenskyy described the strikes as "absolute evil" and "terrorism".