For Ukraine, 2026 began with large-scale Russian attacks on the energy system, civilian infrastructure and on civilians themselves. And all this against the backdrop of ongoing talks on a possible "peace deal".
These strikes aim to force Ukraine to capitulate, to accept unfavourable terms to end the war and to wear society down to the point of exhaustion and despair.
This tactic isn't new, but in the winter of 2026, it became especially visible as Ukraine faced cold temperatures not seen for years and Russia deliberately strikes when temperatures drop below zero, to nearly -28 degrees Celsius.
Some aspects of this strategy we have already analysed in detail in Russia's Winter War on Ukraine's Energy and Everyday Life.
UkraineWorld continues to document Russia's deadliest attacks on civilians, as we also did in 2025 and 2024. We focus on those strikes that deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure and killed at least ten people, though the actual number of strikes and victims is much higher.
These records show that what happens this year is not a series of tragic mistakes or miscalculations, but a deliberate strategy carried out over the years.
Date: February 1, 2026
Location: near Pavlohrad and Ternivka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Type of attack: Drone strike
Target/damage: A civilian bus transporting miners of DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, to work. The vehicle was not a military target and did not carry any military personnel.
Casualties: 12 civilians killed, 16 were wounded.
The DTEK company described the strike as its largest single loss of life since the start of Russia's full-scale war. The timing during winter, amid broader Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy sector, reinforces the pattern of targeting civilians whose work is essential for keeping the country running.
We would like this list to remain short, but it probably will not.
Even as peace is discussed in diplomatic formats, each new attack adds another date, another place, another group of names that should never have been recorded in this way.
This publication was compiled with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It's content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.
