Translated material
War
One thousand three hundred and thirty-first day. Russia is again trying to leave Ukrainians without electricity. Now she's trying a new tactic
Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters in our daily materials because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. How do you feel about the ongoing war? How is it affecting you personally right now? How has your attitude to what is happening, to Russia, to Ukraine, to the world changed over these three years of war? Find the feedback form at the end of this article. You can read the previous day's review here .
Ukraine
Russia is “knocking out” Ukraine’s energy sector region by region, using new tactics in its attacks
In the fall of 2025, Russia resumed massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector - and the upcoming heating season “under certain scenarios” may turn out to be more difficult than the difficult winter of 2022–2023, writes Ukrayinska Pravda, which published extensive material on the situation in the country on the eve of the cold weather. Journalists who spoke with energy industry sources note that Russian military tactics have changed this season.
The goal of the Russian attacks, Ukrayinska Pravda calls, is to create a shortage of electricity in the eastern part of the country, where historically consumption has always been higher, and to stop the flow from the western part. “As a result, the country may find itself in two realities: a deficit east and a surplus west, between which the “intersections” are very weakened,” the journalists write.
Unlike the winter of 2022–2023, Russia is now not using “carpet bombing” in different parts of Ukraine, but is “knocking out” the country’s energy sector region by region. In practice, as journalists describe, it looks like this:
- First, there are local attacks in front-line regions, where Russian troops are trying to “destroy the entire energy system”: local energy generation, delivery through large substations, and distribution in cities through regional substations. Drones are mainly used for strikes. First of all, we are talking about the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, less intensively, but also regularly, the Kharkov, Odessa, Nikolaev and Dnepropetrovsk regions are being shelled.
- Then massive attacks on hydro and thermal power plants begin, including using ballistics.
At the same time, Russia is also hitting the gas infrastructure, trying to disrupt the supply of fuel for heat generation. At the same time, Ukrayinska Pravda notes, Russia is now attacking energy facilities not in a large wave at once, as before, but in series of several drones every hour. One of the publication’s interlocutors calls what is happening a “war of engineers,” since Russian power engineers, who know the gaps and weaknesses of the Ukrainian industry, are helping the military plan attacks.
Air defense does not cope with mass attacks, in which, for example, from 30 to 50 drones, for example, one hundred percent. Shelters could protect energy facilities, and their construction began in the fall of 2022. Then the team of former Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov, together with the Ukrainian military, developed a three-level protection system: sandbags on the first, concrete and metal covering structures on the second, and complete covering of the substation with soil on top of it on the third.
However, subsequent personnel changes and various political disagreements led to the departure of not only Kubrakov and his team, but also the head of the Ukrenergo company, which was also involved in the construction of protective structures. As a result, by the spring of 2024, a significant part of the shelters for all key facilities was not ready.
Vladimir Zelensky, according to the interlocutor of Ukrainskaya Pravda, regularly tries to get answers from power engineers to the question of who is responsible for what, and from regional military administrations to protect their substations. “Nobody did anything except the Zaporozhye region,” says the publication’s source.
“But the worst thing is that the president at these headquarters [the commander-in-chief] asks at least someone to specifically explain who is closing which facilities and which ones require additional protection. And everyone just lowers their eyes and shifts responsibility to someone else,” says one of the journalists’ interlocutors familiar with the situation.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are advised to prepare for long power outages. On October 16, after another series of attacks, during which Russia launched more than 350 drones across Ukraine, Sergei Koretsky, Chairman of the Board of NJSC Naftogaz Naftogaz of Ukraine, addressed consumers. “I appeal to everyone to be as economical as possible when it comes to gas consumption. Every cubic meter saved matters today,” Koretsky wrote. A spokesman for one state-owned energy company says the winter is “definitely going to be in short supply.” “Most likely, in winter we will face a 4x2 scenario: four hours without light, two with light,” he predicts.
World
Trump wants to create a “Ukraine victory fund” through tariffs on China
Donald Trump is working to create a “Ukraine victory fund,” which will be financed by new tariffs on China, The Telegraph writes .
Trump's plan calls for imposing duties of 500% on imports from China and spending part of the proceeds on the purchase of weapons for the Ukrainian army. In this way, the American president hopes to put maximum economic pressure on Vladimir Putin, with whom he is increasingly losing patience, writes The Telegraph, calling this a “significant change in position” by Trump.
On the eve of Vladimir Zelensky's visit to Washington on October 17, Trump instructed his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss a plan to create a “Ukraine victory fund” through tariffs with his European counterparts. “President Trump has directed the Ambassador and I to tell our European allies that we are in favor of imposing - whatever it is called - either a 'Russian Oil Tariff' on China or a 'Ukraine Victory Tariff' on China,” Bessent told reporters. But European allies, he said, must be prepared to do the same.
European governments were not yet ready to impose sanctions on China for the purchase of Russian oil, and, according to The Telegraph sources in Washington, this idea previously encountered obstacles from the EU. However, European leaders “generally” support the supply of Tomahawk long-range missiles to Ukraine (and their payment).
The United States has been trying for some time to put pressure on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil at a price above the established ceiling. The main buyers of such oil are India and China. In early August, Washington introduced additional import duties of 25% on goods from India, and on October 15, Trump said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him not to buy oil from Russia. “This is a big step. Now we are going to force China to do the same,” the US President added.
War through the eyes of Meduza readers
How we choose letters
Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.
Maya (Netherlands, formerly Moscow) . I feel sad and hopeless. Initially, I wanted to scream, explain everything to everyone, send photographs of the bombings to my Russian friends. Now I just try to read the news less. Sometimes pictures from home cause bewilderment. Full of restaurants and parks. An internal feeling of melancholy and bewilderment.
Relatives from Ukraine are also full of pessimism. They don’t really support Zelensky, they really just want peace.
There's a lot of crazy stuff in the world. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems even more hopeless for both sides. I find outlet and joy in art […].