Terror instead of the front: Russia has turned Kyiv into a target and once again used cold as a weapon

On the night of December 27, 2025, Russia carried out one of the largest combined strikes on Ukraine since the beginning of the winter period, deliberately targeting not the front line, but the civilian rear. The main target was Kyiv — a multi-million city where missiles and drones hit facilities directly affecting the survival of civilians.

This was not a military operation in the classical sense, but an act of systemic state terror aimed at intimidation, destabilization, and humanitarian pressure.

Russia itself confirmed the fact of the massive strike.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a “massive strike with precision weapons and drones was carried out on energy infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as military-industrial complex enterprises.”

The key detail is that the statement lacks any mention of civilians, destroyed homes, casualties, and injured. This is a standard practice of Russian military rhetoric, where civilian casualties are deliberately erased from reality.

Attack Numbers: Scale Disproportionate to the Front

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that during the night and morning, Russia used:

• about 500 strike drones;

• 40 missiles, including hypersonic aeroballistic missiles “Kinzhal”.

According to Ukrainian military and specialized sources, the strike involved:

• up to 8 “Kinzhal” missiles;

• up to 10 “Iskander” missiles;

• up to 8 “Kalibr” cruise missiles.

Strategic long-range aviation was involved in the attack:

• 3 Tu-22 bombers;

• 6 Tu-95 aircraft;

• 3 Tu-160 aircraft.

The use of such a set of weapons against an urban agglomeration has no military justification and indicates the demonstrative nature of the terror.

Kyiv: Consequences of the Strike on the Civilian Population

The Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed:

• 28 injured as a result of the attack in the capital;

• in the Kyiv region, a 47-year-old woman died;

• about 4,000 residential buildings were left without heating;

• up to 600,000 consumers — without electricity;

• the city recorded reduced water pressure on both banks of the Dnipro.

In fact, Russia struck at the city’s life-support systems in the midst of the cold season, deliberately creating conditions threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Terror as a Strategy, Not an Excess

The Ukrainian side emphasizes: the main target of the strike was energy, residential areas, and civilian infrastructure, not military objects.

This fully corresponds to the strategy that Russia has been applying since the fall of 2022:
strikes on heat, light, and water as a tool of pressure on society.

In Ukrainian sources, this shelling has already been characterized as “an addition to the uncoordinated elements of the so-called enemy’s peace plan” — with a direct hint at the cynicism of simultaneous talks about negotiations and the launch of hundreds of drones on the capital.

Threat of Repetition

Separately, in the public field, there is a warning: if for some international actors this signal is not clear enough, a repeat of such a strike may be carried out on New Year’s Eve.

This is no longer military rhetoric, but an openly articulated threat to the mass civilian population, which falls under the definition of terrorism in its classical understanding.

Why This Is Important for Israel and the World

Strikes on energy, heating, and water supply in winter are not a side effect of war, but a deliberate policy of intimidation.

For the Israeli audience, this logic is well known: pressure through the rear, an attempt to break the resilience of society, a calculation on fatigue and fear. The difference is only in scale and systematization.

Russia once again demonstrates that it uses terror as a state instrument, hiding behind formulas about “military goals” that do not withstand comparison with real numbers, dates, and consequences.

Documenting these facts is part of the media’s responsibility. That is why NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency consistently documents Russian attacks as what they are in practice: strikes on peaceful cities and people.