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Missiles, drones and a grid under pressure
Summary
A look back at 15 January 2025, when a Russian missile barrage on energy sites followed Ukraine's deep strikes inside Russia.
What did the exchange of strikes in mid-January 2025 amount to? On 15 January 2025, Russia launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid.
The attack came a day after Ukraine hit targets in the Republic of Tatarstan and in Bryansk, Saratov and Tula oblasts. According to Ukraine, it used more than 200 drones and five ATACMS ballistic missiles. The targets included ammunition depots, industrial plants and a refinery. Ukraine described the operation as its most massive and deepest attack inside Russia so far.
The sequence began earlier. On 13 January, Russia accused Ukraine of targeting the Russkaya compressor station in Krasnodar Krai, which feeds gas for the TurkStream pipeline. Moscow said the drone attack, carried out two days earlier, had failed.
Energy on both sides
Taken together, the reports show energy and industrial infrastructure being targeted by both sides within a few days. Ukraine's strikes reached a refinery and other sites far inside Russian territory. Russia's barrage on 15 January was aimed at energy production, and its effect was serious enough that authorities in Ukraine shut down the power grid.
The days from 13 to 15 January 2025 thus showed a contest over energy assets, fought with missiles and drones, in which each side hit the other's infrastructure.
