KYIV, July 19 — Against the backdrop of a war that has now ground through its fifth year, Russia’s systematic campaign against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure remains one of the most chilling features of the full-scale invasion that began on February 24, 2022. What is at stake, in the corridors of power from Kyiv to Brussels, is nothing less than the ability of a modern European society to function under relentless missile and drone bombardment.
The strategy has been consistent: targeting the energy grid, water supply, and other critical civilian nodes not merely to disrupt military logistics, but to demoralise the population and force a capitulation that has, so far, not come.
A campaign born of retaliation and refined over years
The first major barrage aimed at the energy system followed the October 2022 explosion on the Kerch Bridge, a key Russian supply link to occupied Crimea. By November of that year, Moscow had already launched over 4,500 missiles against Ukraine. On November 23, 2022, a massive wave of strikes left millions without power in Kyiv and other cities — a cruel foretaste of what would become a recurring nightmare.
Against this pattern, the attacks escalated in 2023. On March 9, 81 missiles rained down.
May 29 saw another 40 missiles focused on the capital itself. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6, 2023, added an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe to the list of infrastructure crimes. Then, on December 29, 2023, Russia launched the largest single coordinated attack of the war to that point: 158 missiles and drones striking targets across the country.
2024: a new intensity and new Western defences
The wider picture in 2024 showed no let-up. On January 2, 99 missiles were fired. March 22 brought a massive, coordinated strike on energy facilities.
April 11 saw 42 missiles, and June 1 waves of drones. On August 26, 2024, another 127 missiles were launched.
The rhythm had become grimly predictable, yet each assault brought new damage. Ukraine has relied heavily on a suite of Western air defence systems to counter the onslaught: the American Patriot, the US/Norwegian NASAMS, Germany’s IRIS-T, and the Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Despite these layered defences, some missiles inevitably get through.
Blackouts remain a persistent feature of life in many regions. Ukrainian authorities have reported that Russia uses decoys and complex missile trajectories specifically designed to overwhelm the interceptors.
The legal frontier and the limits of accountability
In the corridors of international justice, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials — but those warrants cite the deportation of children from occupied territory, not the deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure. The wider picture of accountability for targeting power plants, dams and water networks remains legally inconclusive, even as the factual record continues to mount.
As of this July, with no sign of the campaign abating, the question that lingers in European chancelleries is whether the current air defence umbrella can be sustained, expanded, and made truly leak-proof. Against this backdrop, what is at stake is not only Ukraine’s winter resilience, but the very credibility of Western commitments to protect a democratic ally from systematic infrastructure warfare.
