Ukraine Conflict Monitor
Update
Ukraine war situation update | 24 – 30 January 2026
Attacks on Odesa city and region increased as Russia intensified its campaign of targeting energy infrastructure.
Key stats
1,595 political violence events
1% decrease compared to the previous three weeks
111 incidents of violence targeting civilians
12% increase compared to the previous three weeks
At least 55 fatalities from civilian targeting
57% increase compared to the previous three weeks
Key events
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27 Jan.
Kharkiv — Russian drones hit a passenger train near Yazykove, killing one serviceman and at least five civilians
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27 Jan.
Odesa — Russian drones attack Odesa city, killing four civilians and injuring 35 others
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30 Jan.
Kyiv — Russia agrees to pause strikes on energy infrastructure between 30 January and 1 February
Key trends
- Russian forces seized three villages east of Malokaterynivka and northwest of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhia region. In the central Donetsk region, Russian forces occupied three settlements, including one south of Kostianynivka. Russia also seized a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region, close to the boundary with the Zaporizhia region, and claimed to have captured a village near the international border in the Sumy region, east of Hlukhiv.
- Russian forces reportedly abandoned their positions on Oleksiivskyi Island in the Dnipro River east of Kherson city.
- Russian forces launched at least 40 long-range missile and drone attacks, mostly concentrated on the Dnipropetrovsk region and Kyiv region and city.
- Russian strikes killed at least 51 civilians in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhia regions, as well as Kyiv city. Ukrainian drones reportedly killed four civilians in the Russian-controlled parts of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
Spotlight: Russian drones partially collapse an apartment building in Odesa city amid continued strikes on the energy infrastructure
During the early morning hours of 27 January, Russia launched 165 attack drones on Ukraine, nearly a third of them swarming Odesa city.1 The strikes partially collapsed an apartment building and left a two-story-wide hole in another, in addition to damaging over 40 other residential buildings, educational institutions, and energy facilities. As a result of the attack, four civilians were killed, and at least 35 others were injured, including 12 people who were hospitalized. The 27 January attack caused the highest number of casualties in Odesa city since a Russian missile killed 11 people and wounded over 50 in November 2024. Strikes continued the next day, damaging private houses, a monastery, and a port near Odesa, and injuring three more civilians.
Attacks on Odesa city and the surrounding region increased as Russia intensified its campaign of targeting energy infrastructure ahead of the 2025-2026 cold season. Since October, ACLED records damage to energy infrastructure in every third strike in the region. These attacks, coupled with the cold weather, have caused regular blackouts in the city, some lasting for days.2 On 30 January, Russia agreed to a ceasefire on attacks targeting energy infrastructure, but it brought little relief, as it expired only a couple of days later. Apart from energy infrastructure, port facilities in the region are a prime target for Russian attacks, which often cause damage to civilian vessels and storage units with foodstuffs. ACLED records a spike in attacks on ports in the Odesa region in December and January.
Explore the ACLED Conflict Exposure Calculator to assess the number of people affected by armed violence, disaggregated by locations, time period, and actors involved.
Footnotes
- 1
- 2
Natalia Patrikeieva, “‘They took out the barbecues, we’re cooking pilaf.’ How Odesa lives for the second day in a complete blackout, without water and heat,” BBC News, 14 December 2025 (Ukrainian); Victoria Basok, “Odesa residents without electricity for the second day: why restoration was delayed,” Odesa Life, 31 January 2026 (Ukrainian)
