Frontline fighting intensifies as energy networks hit and fuel shortages reach Russian regions

Intense combat persists across Eastern Ukraine, with over 150 daily skirmishes reported along the frontline. Ukrainian defense forces managed to slow Russian pushes toward Sloviansk and Kupyansk, though Moscow’s forces expanded their control south of Dobropillia and claimed a new village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Simultaneously, extensive Russian air strikes targeting Ukraine's energy grid triggered blackouts impacting over 600,000 residents in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and 250,000 in Kharkiv Oblast, alongside heat disruptions in Kyiv and Zhytomyr.

Across the border, multiple Russian regions instituted fuel sales restrictions to curb emerging local deficits. The shortages follow a series of targeted Ukrainian drone strikes against eight major Russian oil refineries over a two-week period.

Sources: Belsat, NEXTA, The Insider, Радіо Свобода, Українська правда.