Putin’s War in Ukraine Is Also Hitting Russians Harder at Home

Nearly four years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war’s toll is measured not only in the shattered cities across the border but increasingly in Russia’s own frontier regions.

Millions of Ukrainians are enduring one of the coldest winters in recent memory without reliable electricity and heating as waves of Russian missile and drone attacks have devastated energy infrastructure. Tens of thousands of Russians living along the country’s western edge are facing similar hardships now, as cross-border strikes damage essential utilities, forcing authorities to adopt emergency measures.