Kathrine Frich
As winter looms, Moscow’s battlefield failures appear to have hardened into a brutal new strategy, not to seize Ukrainian land, but to render it unlivable.
Analysts warn that Russia is now waging a campaign of destruction designed to break the country’s spirit and infrastructure.
Strategy of annihilation
According to The Economist, Russia has suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties this year while capturing less than one percent of Ukrainian territory.
Facing that reality, President Vladimir Putin’s forces have shifted focus from territorial conquest to systematic devastation.
Instead of advancing on the ground, Moscow has unleashed large-scale airstrikes on Ukraine’s power grids, gas facilities, and heating plants.
The intention, experts say, is to cripple the economy, force civilians from their homes, and make vast regions, especially in the east, uninhabitable.
Recent attacks have been notably more targeted and efficient than in previous years.
Using cheaper, more agile Shahed drones, Russia has learned to bypass Ukrainian defenses.
Some drones now dive almost vertically, mimicking missiles and striking at angles beyond the reach of machine-gun fire.
Precision terror
Over the past three weeks, waves of drone and missile attacks have destroyed or disabled multiple energy facilities across the country.
Reports indicate that nearly half of Ukraine’s domestic gas output has been disrupted, a staggering loss on the brink of winter.
To keep electricity flowing, Kyiv has had to import gas at an estimated cost of $1.9 billion.
Meanwhile, bombardments have intensified in the border regions of Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv, where officials believe Moscow aims to sever Ukraine’s industrial east from its energy-producing west.
By cutting power lines and transmission routes, Russia appears intent on isolating eastern Ukraine from its energy supply.
“They want to turn off the lights on the eastern bank first, not the whole country,” a Ukrainian government source told The Economist.
War of endurance
Analysts argue that Putin no longer seeks a swift victory. Instead, his campaign is designed to wear Ukraine down through exhaustion, physically, economically, and psychologically.
While previous bombardments only strengthened Ukrainian resolve, the Kremlin now hopes the unrelenting energy crisis will break public morale and test Western patience.
As the war approaches its fourth winter, Ukraine faces perhaps its most difficult season yet: a grim struggle to keep homes heated, lights on, and the nation united in the face of calculated destruction.
This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, who may have used AI in the preparation
