Kyiv faces a fresh winter threat as Russia intensifies its focus on the Ukrainian capital’s water supply, raising the prospect of further disruption to essential services already battered by attacks on energy infrastructure.
Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi warned on Monday, October 19, that water had become an “active focus” of Russian attacks, urging residents to prepare for difficult conditions in the months ahead.
“Electricity and heating – we have already been through that, but water supply in Kyiv is now a very active focus for the Russians,” he told BBC News Ukrainian.
The government and utilities are preparing backup electricity for water facilities, reserve pumping stations and alternative delivery routes. The measures are intended to keep supplies running during outages, although officials cannot guarantee normal service if attacks intensify.
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The warning comes as Russia renews its campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 19 that overnight strikes had damaged more than 10 energy facilities and left at least 550,000 households without electricity.
Kyiv’s energy position has also deteriorated following damage to the capital’s three main combined heat and power plants — CHP-5, CHP-6 and Darnytsia CHP — which are reportedly no longer generating electricity. Their combined output previously reached about 1.3 gigawatts, leaving the capital more reliant on power supplied from elsewhere in Ukraine.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal has said Ukrainian intelligence obtained Russian documents detailing planned attacks on electricity generation, heating, water supply and sewage systems. The documents reportedly specified the weapons and quantities required to strike individual facilities.
Russian forces targeted all three municipal CHP plants during an overnight attack on October 13-14, alongside other energy infrastructure in Kyiv and surrounding regions.
The threat to water supplies exposes another vulnerability: Kyiv’s pumping and distribution systems depend on electricity, meaning attacks on the power network can disrupt access to clean water even when water facilities themselves remain intact.
With winter approaching, Ukraine faces the challenge of keeping basic services operating under sustained attack. Backup systems may provide some resilience, but the scale of the threat leaves residents facing continued uncertainty over reliable electricity, heating and water.
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