The winter season 2025/2026 has been described by many in Ukraine as the harshest they remember. Since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, and particularly during the coldest months of the year, the pattern of its aerial attacks across the country has clearly indicated that it is seeking to damage Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In doing so, it has caused widespread disruption of essential services critical for the civilian population, and inflicted severe suffering on the Ukrainian people. As one interviewee, a Kyiv resident, put it: “At this point, we’re in harsh survival mode.”