(BELGOROD, RUSSIA) – Russian authorities have begun evacuating residents from the border city of Belgorod after Ukrainian strikes disabled heating and electricity systems, leaving roughly 80,000 people without heat amid freezing winter temperatures.
A thermal power plant and a major substation were hit, forcing officials to drain water from hundreds of residential and public heating systems to prevent pipes from bursting. Authorities report that 80 per cent of the city’s population is affected. Residents have been advised to leave or send children to safer regions.
The situation mirrors Russia’s long-running campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. For years, Russian forces targeted power plants and heating networks to disrupt civilian life. Now similar conditions are affecting Russian border regions.
Elsewhere along the front, Ukrainian forces struck a logistics hub in Nova Mykolaivka, destroying improvised transport vehicles used to supply Russian units, including converted civilian cars, motorcycles, and horses.
Ukrainian energy company DTEK released footage showing damage to its plants and reported over 220 Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector. Engineers continue to work under hazardous conditions to restore electricity and heating, racing against falling temperatures.
In other developments, Indian authorities detained three tankers linked to Russia’s shadow fleet for illegal oil transfers. Ukrainian cities, including Odessa, Kramatorsk, and Kherson, also endured attacks overnight, causing civilian injuries, fires, and ongoing disruption to daily life.
