Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it had begun preparations for massive strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, following orders it said it had received. The ministry did not specify when or where the strikes would occur.
The ministry said the attack would be a response to Ukraine's continued strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure and fuel-energy complex. The announcement came after one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia: according to the Defense Ministry, air defenses intercepted 494 drones overnight on August 30. During the raid, a fire broke out at the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery in the Leningrad region, and NASA FIRMS data indicated a blaze near a military airfield in Yeysk, The Insider reported.
Ukrainian authorities have warned in recent weeks of the risk of new massive strikes before winter. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that since the start of 2026, Ukraine has been receiving nearly three times fewer interceptor missiles than before, partly due to fighting in the Middle East. He called preparing for winter one of the main priorities of Ukrainian diplomacy and tasked officials with seeking Patriot, IRIS-T, Hawk, SAMP/T, and NASAMS missiles abroad, as well as energy equipment.
According to Ukraine's Energy Ministry, more than 9 GW of thermal and hydroelectric power capacity has been damaged as a result of Russian attacks since October 2025. The State Energy Supervision Inspectorate reported that since February 2022, its specialists have inspected more than 11,600 damaged or destroyed electricity facilities, more than 1,800 of them in the first half of 2026.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is giving a "tough response" to Ukraine's strikes on Russian economic and trade infrastructure, but that military escalation is "simply not needed" for Moscow.