What the 25 December 2024 strikes did to Ukraine's power grid
A look back at the Christmas Day missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure across Ukrainian cities.
What did a Christmas Day of strikes on energy infrastructure mean for Ukraine's winter? On 25 December 2024, Russian ballistic missiles and drones hit critical energy facilities in cities across the country, according to reports at the time.
The attacks killed at least two people and injured 20 others. They also caused widespread emergency blackouts, leaving residents in affected areas without power.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin over the strikes, calling the attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure "inhumane".
The strikes belonged to a wider pattern during the Russo-Ukrainian war, in which winter attacks on district heating and electricity supply caused recurring crises for energy in Ukraine. The Christmas Day attacks added to that record: a combined missile and drone assault on power facilities, with civilian casualties and outages across multiple cities.
For a government and public that had already been dealing with an energy crisis, the day showed how exposed the country's power system remained in the middle of winter.
