Russian energy strikes turn winter outages into a weapon against civilians, UN report says

The Commission concluded that Russian authorities committed war crimes by intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects and crimes against humanity through other inhumane acts.

Russia's repeated attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have caused widespread hardship for civilians, according to a new report by the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. The Commission concluded that Russian authorities committed war crimes by intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects and crimes against humanity through other inhumane acts. It also found compelling evidence that Russian authorities trafficked men from 29 countries into the Russian armed forces.

The report describes attacks on energy facilities since autumn 2022, with waves of hundreds of drones and missiles growing more frequent, intense and geographically broad. During the winter of 2025–2026, temperatures fell to minus 21°C as millions of people faced prolonged outages of heating, electricity, water and gas. The Commission said the attacks have intensified again as another cold season approaches, raising concern for civilians' lives and health.

Its findings draw on accounts from 255 people in Dnipro, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr Oblasts, alongside information from Ukrainian authorities, doctors and non-governmental organisations. Older people and people with reduced mobility faced particular danger when power cuts could leave them trapped in elevators or unable to reach safe places during air raid alerts. Families also described disrupted schooling during energy crises and children becoming ill in homes without heat.

Energy attacks brought prolonged hardship to civilians

People described the physical and mental toll of living without basic services and constantly planning how to stay warm and safe. A 53-year-old Kyiv resident said he was afraid to fall asleep in case he died from the cold, describing the fear as torture. A 74-year-old woman said she lay cold and hungry, without medicine.

The Commission found that Russian commanders knew the heating facilities they targeted in large cities were indispensable to civilians, especially in winter. It said Russian officials had publicly discussed further attacks and referred to plans to carry them out. The report concludes that the attacks were intentional and followed a state policy to deprive civilians of electricity and other essential energy-dependent services, causing suffering.

The Commission also examined Ukrainian armed forces' attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and in occupied areas of Ukraine. It could not investigate their impact further because Russia did not grant access or respond to requests for information. The Commission called for attacks on civilians and civilian objects to stop.

Men from 29 countries were recruited through deception

The report found evidence that Russian authorities trafficked men from 29 countries through deception and coercion, working with agents or agencies in different countries and regions. Those intermediaries presented themselves as legitimate businesses endorsed by governments, and helped recruits obtain visas and travel documents; some accompanied groups on their journeys. After arriving in Russia, the men were forced to sign contracts in Russian with the Ministry of Defence, which the Commission said showed a high degree of coordination between recruiters and Russian authorities.

A woman whose husband was recruited from the Caribbean said his passport was taken and he was pressured to sign a contract he could not read. Recruited men were sent to the front lines in Ukraine and assigned dangerous tasks; many have been killed or gone missing, and others surrendered or were captured by Ukrainian forces and became prisoners of war. The Commission called for all trafficked people to be discharged from the Russian armed forces.