Russia spends its city’s yearly budget on one night of strikes on Ukraine

HUR recalled the most brutal combined attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in 2026, with a total of 562 aerial attack assets having been deployed.

Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched Iskander and RM-48U ballistic missiles, hypersonic 3M22 Zircon and 3M55 Onyx missiles, as well as Kh-101, 9M728 Iskander-K, and Kh-32 cruise missiles.

In addition, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian cities with Geran and Garpiya strike drones, along with Herbera decoy UAVs.

Based on HUR calculations, the total cost of the weapons used amounted to $324.8 million, which is more than $190 million higher than the cost of Russia’s previous mass strike on Jan. 20.

Ukrainian intelligence noted that this sum will be enough to fund an entire year of life in Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast, home to about 144,000 people, or to cover the annual budget of the city of Kaluga, which has a population of more than 320,000. The amount is also comparable to half of Kostroma Oblast’s annual budget.

“Instead of improving living standards and developing infrastructure in its own country, the Kremlin spent these funds on strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure,” the intelligence agency said.

At the same time, HUR stressed that 79.2% of the resources Russia used were effectively wasted, as Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 450 aerial targets.

Russia’s Feb. 3 mass attack

On the night of Feb. 3, Russia carried out a large-scale strike on Ukraine’s energy facilities, launching more than 70 missiles and 450 drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used a record number of ballistic missiles in the attack.

Damage was reported in Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, and Kharkiv Oblast.

Energy company DTEK said the strike was the most powerful attack on Ukraine’s energy system since the start of the year.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that Russian forces attacked eight oblasts, striking residential buildings, combined heat and power plants, and thermal power plants operating solely in heating mode in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.

Ministry of Energy said Kyiv’s Darnytsia CHP plant sustained significant damage and will require a long recovery period.