As the chill of late November settles across Eastern Europe, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has entered a new, volatile phase, marked by escalating drone warfare, energy infrastructure attacks, and mounting civilian casualties. In a series of strikes and counterstrikes over the past week, both sides have targeted not only each other's military assets but also vital energy facilities and civilian centers, raising fears about the coming winter and the region's fragile security.
On November 17, 2025, a dramatic incident unfolded in Ukraine's Odesa region when a drone struck the Turkish-flagged tanker MT Orinda during the offloading of liquefied petroleum gas at the Izmail port. According to Turkey’s Directorate for Maritime Affairs, the tanker was set ablaze, but all 16 crew members managed to evacuate safely, with no injuries reported. The attack occurred just one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a landmark deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Odesa region, a move designed to help Ukraine weather the winter amid relentless Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure. The LNG, set to begin flowing in January 2026, will arrive via pipelines from the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis, as reported by the Associated Press.
Russian forces have intensified their campaign against Ukraine’s southern ports, especially those along the Black Sea, since launching their full-scale invasion nearly four years ago. Odesa and its satellite ports, including Izmail, are critical lifelines for Ukrainian imports and exports. Ukrainian officials, while not directly commenting on the tanker incident, confirmed that Russian drones targeted the Odesa region overnight, damaging energy and port infrastructure in several cities and sparking multiple fires. Regional military administration head Oleh Kiper stated that one person was injured in these attacks and that several civilian vessels were damaged. The persistent targeting of these facilities underscores Russia’s strategy of crippling Ukraine’s economy and energy supplies as winter approaches.
The dangers of such attacks are not confined within Ukraine’s borders. Romanian authorities, alarmed by the hazardous nature of the tanker's cargo, ordered the evacuation of people and animals from two villages near Izmail on the Romanian side of the border. This cross-border precaution highlights the broader risks posed by the ongoing conflict to neighboring countries and the region’s delicate environmental balance.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the violence has been equally severe. In Balakliya, located in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Russian missile strikes killed three people and injured 11 others overnight, including four girls aged 12, 14, 15, and 17. Meanwhile, in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drones and artillery killed two people and injured two more in a daylight attack on Nikopol, damaging high-rise apartment blocks, stores, and a hair salon, according to Vladyslav Haivanenko, head of the regional military administration. The United Nations has repeatedly noted the heavy toll of Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilians, with thousands killed over the course of the war.
These attacks are part of a broader Russian campaign to degrade Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. On the night before November 17, Russia fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and launched 128 strike and decoy drones across Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air force. In response, Ukraine has ramped up its own strikes on Russian energy assets. A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an electricity substation in Russia’s Ulyanovsk region, though local power supplies reportedly remained unaffected, as stated by Governor Aleksey Russkikh on social media.
The tit-for-tat strikes have not been limited to the battlefield. On November 14-15, Ukrainian forces launched a significant attack on Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, prompting local authorities to declare a state of emergency. According to Bloomberg, the assault caused fires at the Transneft PJSC’s Sheskharis oil terminal, which were extinguished only after more than 50 units of firefighting equipment were deployed. Falling drone debris damaged a container terminal and Russia’s largest grain terminal, both of which continued operating. Drones also hit an unidentified civilian vessel in the port, while at least three residential buildings were damaged, according to Novorossiysk Mayor Andrey Kravchenko.
Ukraine’s General Staff later reported a strike on Rosneft PJSC’s Saratov refinery in Russia’s Volga region—the third such attack in November on a facility that processes about 140,000 barrels of crude oil daily. These strikes are part of a deliberate Ukrainian strategy to reduce Russia’s energy revenue, which helps fund its military operations. Energy prices responded swiftly, with global benchmark Brent crude spiking as much as 3 percent to around $65 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $60, as reported by Rigzone.
Russia’s response to these attacks has been forceful and far-reaching. On the same night as the Novorossiysk attack, Russia launched about 430 drones and 18 missiles, including ballistic ones, against Ukraine. Kyiv bore the brunt, with at least six people killed and 35 wounded, according to local authorities. Dozens of apartment buildings were damaged, and debris from an Iskander missile struck the Azerbaijani Embassy in the capital. Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by Patriot and other systems supplied by Western partners, managed to intercept 14 missiles, including ballistic ones. President Zelenskyy condemned the strikes, stating, “Russia continues its terror against Ukrainian cities, specifically against civilian infrastructure—the key targets for Russia last night were residential areas in Kyiv and energy facilities.”
Russian strikes also hit the Kharkiv, Odesa, and Sumy regions. In Chornomorsk near Odesa, a drone attack on a market killed at least two people and wounded seven, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper. The Kremlin claims its campaign is aimed at Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy facilities, but Ukrainian officials and international observers have documented extensive civilian casualties and damage to non-military targets.
The conflict’s impact on energy infrastructure has been devastating on both sides of the front line. On November 17, around half a million energy customers in the occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine were left without power following Ukrainian drone strikes on the electrical grid. Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed head of Donetsk, reported outages in Donetsk, Makiivka, Horlivka, and Yasynuvata, though emergency crews managed to restore electricity in some areas later that morning, according to The Moscow Times. Pro-Ukrainian sources claimed a fire broke out at the Chaikine electrical substation near Makiivka. Meanwhile, in Russia’s Ulyanovsk region, air defense systems repelled a Ukrainian attack on a key substation linking regional energy grids, with no injuries and normal power generation reported.
As both sides escalate their attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure, the humanitarian consequences grow more dire. With winter looming, millions face the prospect of blackouts, fuel shortages, and further violence. The latest wave of strikes and counterstrikes underscores the high stakes of the war—not just for the combatants, but for the entire region and global energy markets.
With each new attack, the cycle of retaliation deepens, leaving ordinary people to bear the brunt of a conflict that shows no sign of abating.
