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Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure rise, Al Jazeera analysis shows
Confirmed
In Short: Al Jazeera's analysis of attacks during the ongoing conflict reveals a significant increase in strikes on civilian targets.
The war in Ukraine, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022, has seen both sides increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure, according to Al Jazeera's analysis of data from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). Russian forces have carried out 29,792 attacks on Ukraine in 2022, with the majority occurring along the front line in Donetsk, followed by Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson.
Russia has consistently directed strikes at Ukraine’s energy grid, and has warned of "massive strikes" on infrastructure in the run-up to winter, in retaliation for attacks on its oil and gas facilities, according to Ukrenergo. The majority of Ukrainian attacks on Russia have occurred in the western region of Belgorod, followed by Kursk, Bryansk, Krasnodar, and Rostov.
Al Jazeera visualises how attacks on civilian infrastructure have more than doubled over the course of the war. By August 2026, the number of Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine had risen to 7,170, representing more than 13 percent of all Russian attacks on the country. In contrast, Ukraine recorded 245 attacks in Russia in 2022, with 24 targeting civilian infrastructure, or about 10 percent. By August 2026, that figure had risen to 3,560 attacks, or 27 percent of all Ukrainian attacks in Russia.
The increase in attacks on civilian infrastructure has been a source of concern, with the building in Kyiv housing the Ukrainian TV channel We are Ukraine partially collapsing after a Russian drone strike, injuring at least five people. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a "new page in Russian degradation," and shared photos of the partially collapsed building. Air raid alerts have also warned civilians to seek shelter as Russian forces carried out missile and drone strikes on Kyiv.
Although a larger share of Ukrainian attacks targeted civilian infrastructure, Russia carried out far more attacks overall. As the war grinds on through its fifth year, both sides have come to rely on drones over artillery, with attacks reaching further and further beyond the front line and civilian infrastructure and cities increasingly caught in the crossfire.
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