Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure a war crime: UN
News Source
•Mon, 26 Oct 2026 17:27:34 +0000
📰 What Happened
A United Nations commission says Russia's repeated attacks on Ukraine's power plants, heating stations and gas lines amount to war crimes. The report was handed to the UN General Assembly on Monday. It covers attacks going back to the autumn of 2022.
The commission says Russia is using winter cold as a weapon against civilians. It found that waves of drone and missile strikes have grown larger and spread wider over the years. The hardest period it examined was the winter of 2025 to 2026.
🔍 The Backstory
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then Moscow has gone after energy sites every autumn, trying to drain the country's will to fight.
Millions of Ukrainians have lived through blackouts and lost heating in freezing weather. The commission is an independent body set up by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate abuses in Ukraine.
🎯 Why It Matters
When power and heating are hit, it is civilians, especially the elderly, the sick and children, who suffer most in the cold.
A United Nations commission says Russia's repeated attacks on Ukraine's power plants, heating stations and gas lines amount to war crimes. The report was handed to the UN General Assembly on Monday. It covers attacks going back to the autumn of 2022.
The commission says Russia is using winter cold as a weapon against civilians. It found that waves of drone and missile strikes have grown larger and spread wider over the years. The hardest period it examined was the winter of 2025 to 2026.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then Moscow has gone after energy sites every autumn, trying to drain the country's will to fight.
Millions of Ukrainians have lived through blackouts and lost heating in freezing weather. The commission is an independent body set up by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate abuses in Ukraine.
When power and heating are hit, it is civilians, especially the elderly, the sick and children, who suffer most in the cold.