Ukraine had avoided striking Russia’s power grid for civilian use until recently. That policy has changed.
For years, Kyiv assessed that mirroring Russian tactics would not strengthen its position. Instead, it would hand Moscow the moral equivalency it has sought to manufacture since 2022.
The AFU's strategic focus to date has prioritized targeting "war-sustaining" infrastructure, specifically the Russian oil refining sector. By late 2025, Ukrainian strikes had targeted more than 50% of Russia’s 38 major refineries.
These targets are legally distinct from civilian-essential power grids. Oil fuels the Russian military machine and generates export revenue; electrical generation plants and distribution infrastructure are dual use but primarily sustain non-combatants.
The recent outages following hits on the Storozhevaya (Belgorod 330) substation and the Luch thermal power plant indicate a new phase in cross-border operations.
While the Russian Federation continues systematic strikes on the Ukrainian grid, plunging hundreds of thousands into darkness, Kyiv is signaling that Russian border regions are no longer insulated from the consequences of Moscow’s energy war.
Previous strikes on similar electrical infrastructure functioned primarily as deterrence signaling. The current phase is centered on operational effect. The Russian state response is revealing.
Rather than prioritizing rapid restoration of civilian services, the Kremlin has repeatedly used infrastructure outages as narrative material, highlighting civilian hardship to frame events as “Ukrainian terror” while allowing critical facilities such as the Belgorod 330 substation to remain degraded for extended periods. The emphasis appears to be on information utility rather than recovery. Ukraine's restraint was never a product of weakness. It was a calculation of political capital, alliance cohesion, and narrative control.
Ukraine returned to the Caspian Sea to strike Russian oil platforms.
Lots of Russian recon drones going down.
Bavovna in Voronezh.
A Russian oil depot in Volgograd is still burning after a Ukrainian attack.
The UK steps up.
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🇬🇧🚀 UK is to build a powerful new ballistic missile for Ukraine to obliterate Russian targets deep behind enemy lines, - The Sun
Nightfall rockets will carry 200kg warheads and have a range of 310 miles — enough to strike as far as Moscow from the battlefield.
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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) January 11, 2026 at 6:19 AM
Russia’s legacy.
Russia deploys a new jet-powered drone.
Russia has a glut of Starlink terminals so it is using them on recon drones and mining them.
It is reported that Russia organized a supply chain for American Starlink terminals by fraudulently declaring products and falsifying product certification records. Despite official statements from SpaceX denying sales to Russia, the enemy successfully utilizes this extensive system of “parallel imports” and account activations through third countries.
The number of terminals imported this way is so large that the Russians have started installing Starlink terminals on UAVs. For example, in December 2025, it was confirmed that Starlink was being used on the Molniya-2R UAV, which was also featured on the official Defense Intelligence of Ukraine project account.
Russia just keeps feeding meat into the grinder at Pokrovsk.
He’s been dying longer than Francisco Franco.
Ten points if you know who Franco was and the TV show that mocked his slow-motion death.
Another 1,130 Russians plus 11 tanks and 44 artillery pieces.
Let’s check in on the Russian economy.
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🚨Turning point: Russia is cutting oil production.
As oil prices drop to a net loss per barrel and some remains unsold, production is being cut and output is now 250k barrels a day below Russia's OPEC+ quota.
Restarting a stopped oil well is expensive, and sometimes impossible.
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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) January 10, 2026 at 6:42 AM
The wreckage of the Oreshnik missile that Russia fired at Lviv is being examined and an antique was found.
Gagarin was the Soviet cosmonaut who was the first man in space way back in 1961.
Works for me.
The Disposables would be a great band name.
Rest in peace.
And after the wedding they can honeymoon in Beautiful Bakhmut or Picturesque Pokrovsk.
Ukraine deploys its new fur-covered autonomous drone.
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Ukrainian bio-engineered "Bunker Cats" are a critical weapon in the war against vermin infestations. 🇺🇦🐈🇷🇺🐀
There are RUMINT claims that one elite Spetsnaz Bunker Cat killed 11 invaders in one day.
They also do a great job boosting the morale of AFU defenders.
#BunkerCatsSlava
#OSINT
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— OSINT Intuit™ (@urikikaski.bsky.social) January 11, 2026 at 6:30 AM
Taken to safety.
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🙏🇺🇦 Zaporizhzhia police evacuated 33 people from Kushugum, 19 of them children - National Police.
The evacuation took place at dawn. Police officers constantly monitored the airspace, as enemy UAVs are regularly spotted over the settlement, hunting civilian cars and people.
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— The Ukrainian Review (@theukrainianreview.bsky.social) January 10, 2026 at 6:24 AM
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Today,volunteer Ruslana Kulbida evacuated 11 animals from Dnipropetrovsk region. Most of them were taken to shelter.One dog is in critical condition -veterinarians are fighting for her life right now, UAnimals shared
Also volunteers from evacuated 27 cats from Zaporizhzhia region
📷UAnimalsENG
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— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) January 10, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Dad’s home.
Winter has descended on Ukraine.
