Due to constant Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, the situation with electricity across the country remained difficult throughout the week. The energy system was operating at the limits of its capacity, and several energy facilities required emergency repairs after accidents. According to Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, the situation on January 22 was the most challenging since the blackout of November 2022. This week, the enemy focused its aggression on frontline and border regions, as well as Kyiv oblast and Odesa oblast. The most destructive and deadly attacks targeted Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, and the Kramatorsk district in Donetsk region.

Constant missile and drone strikes by the Russian army have turned Odesa into a frontline city. It, along with Izmail, Chornomorsk, Kiliia, and other settlements in Odesa region, has been added to the list of active combat zones. Air attacks on Odesa region go hand in hand with information attacks. Propagandists overlay new events and contexts with old Kremlin narratives. In particular, the Russian army destroys civilian bridges, port facilities, and energy infrastructure in the region allegedly only “in response” and under duress.

Russian strikes continue to test Ukraine’s energy system every day. In Kyiv, a state of emergency in the energy sector has been introduced, emergency response headquarters have been activated, and rules for residents’ movement during curfew have been adjusted. The most devastating and tragic attack targeted the Nova Poshta terminal in the outskirts of Kharkiv, killing four men. Among those injured throughout the week were medical workers, police officers, and employees of the regional energy company. Large‑scale enemy strikes also continue in Odesa region. Across the country, energy workers, emergency responders, police, utility services, and other specialists have been working around the clock at the limits of what is possible.

Photographer Serhii Melnychenko has presented his project *“Frontline Tapes: photographs, letters, and artifacts of Ukrainian soldiers”*, which he worked on throughout 2025. Melnychenko sent disposable film cameras to Ukrainian soldiers and asked them to document their daily life, their work, and the war. However, the project grew beyond photography: together with the cameras, Melnychenko asked the soldiers to send him handwritten letters and artifacts they chose themselves. The result is not only a collection of images and documents of the war, but also a tapestry of personal stories and memories of the people who are defending Ukraine’s independence today.

Every week, Russia demonstrates to Ukrainians its supposed “desire for peace.” On the eve of the forecasted cold spell in Ukraine, the Russian army struck energy and heating facilities and destroyed people’s homes. The consequences of these attacks on the energy sector were felt most acutely in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia regions. During the massive overnight attack on the capital on January 9, the enemy launched an “Oreshnik” ballistic missile at a critical infrastructure facility in Lviv region — less than 70 km from the EU border. The week was marked by tragic events such as Russian strikes on hospitals and emergency services: one medical worker was killed, others were injured, and rescuers were wounded as well. Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, search‑and‑rescue operations continued throughout the week at the site of the Russian missile strike on January 2. Thanks to the work of Ukrainian documentarians, we can revisit this week and appreciate the courage of those who rush to help.

Ukrainian photographer Oleksandr Hliadielov spoke about why, in Ukraine, the concepts of freedom and revolution are inseparable; about documenting a generation of free people he first encountered on the Maidan and later on the front line; and about why today it is important to photograph not only the war itself, but also life beyond the front.