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Strikes on energy targets in mid-February 2026
Summary
A look back at the reported attacks on energy infrastructure and civilians in the days before 16 February 2026.
What did the days leading up to 16 February 2026 show about the war's focus on energy and on civilians? The reports from 10 to 15 February describe strikes on both sides, with energy infrastructure in Russia a recurring target.
Attacks on Russian energy sites
On 11 February, the Volgograd refinery in Volgograd Oblast was reported ablaze, with multiple explosions, after an overnight attack by Ukrainian drones. Volgograd International Airport was closed in response.
Two days later, on 13 February, a Ukrainian missile strike on energy infrastructure and a residential area in Belgorod killed two electricians and injured five other people.
The largest reported episode came on 15 February. Authorities in several Russian oblasts, including Belgorod and Bryansk, reported widespread power outages after a large-scale Ukrainian missile and drone attack on Russian power stations. Bryansk Oblast governor Alexander Bogomaz confirmed that the regional capital, Bryansk, had lost most of its electricity and heat supply.
Russian strikes on Ukrainian towns
In the same period, Russian airstrikes hit Ukrainian communities. On 10 February, two people were killed in a strike on Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast. On 11 February, four people were killed and two others injured in an airstrike on Bohodukhiv in Kharkiv Oblast.
A separate dispute at the Olympics
The war also surfaced at the 2026 Winter Olympics. On 12 February, the International Olympic Committee disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing because of his helmet, which carried images of Ukrainian athletes killed by Russian Armed Forces.
What the sequence shows
Taken together, the reports show a progression in the Russian-territory strikes: from a refinery on 11 February, to energy infrastructure in Belgorod on 13 February, to power stations across several oblasts on 15 February, with heat and electricity lost in Bryansk. Over the same days, civilians were killed in Sloviansk and Bohodukhiv. The reports do not link these events to one another, and each is documented here as it was reported at the time.
