- January 15, 2026
- 2:04 pm
- Ukraine, Video
Winter in Ukraine is once again becoming a test not only for infrastructure but also for human endurance. Massive Russian strikes on the energy system have led to prolonged power and heat outages in dozens of cities and regions. Against this backdrop, government structures are operating in emergency mode, and civil society is in a state of constant mobilization. One such example is the initiative of the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, which today functions as emergency humanitarian aid where time is of the essence.
Mobile Centers of Resilience: Help That Comes to You
Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Asman on January 13-15, 2026, published a series of addresses announcing the preparation and operation of Mobile Centers of Resilience — the so-called “Mitzvah Tanks.” These are mobile aid points that go to addresses where people have been without electricity and heating for several days.
This is not about one-time actions or symbolic gestures. The format of assistance is extremely practical: a warm room, hot tea, the ability to charge phones and tablets to stay in touch with family and emergency services. In conditions where communication becomes a matter of safety, such basic things acquire critical importance.
The main principle of this initiative is the absence of any conditions. No money is taken for help. As the rabbi emphasizes, helping people is a mitzvah, a commandment. That is why the mobile centers are called “Mitzvah Tanks.”
“Don’t Be Ashamed”: Working on Requests from Below
In his addresses, the rabbi directly asks people to write in the comments the addresses and contact numbers where there has been no light or heat for several days. This is an important point: help is built not from top to bottom, but from direct signals from people.
Volunteer teams are on constant duty to be ready to leave immediately — whether it’s an address with a prolonged outage or, in the worst case, a place of a Russian strike where people suddenly find themselves without a roof over their heads. This response model is especially important in conditions where the scale of destruction exceeds the capabilities of centralized services.
Special attention is paid to the elderly. Volunteers help carry water without an elevator to high floors, solve everyday tasks that become insurmountable during a blackout. This is the part of the crisis that rarely makes it into official reports but daily defines the real life of thousands of families.
Energy Terror: Numbers and SBU Qualification
Parallel to the volunteer work, a large-scale picture of systemic attacks on energy is unfolding. Security Service of Ukraine reports that since the beginning of the heating season, 256 air attacks on energy facilities and heating systems of Ukraine have been recorded.
According to the SBU, since the beginning of October 2025, Russian troops have deliberately attacked 11 hydroelectric power plants and 45 major thermal power plants. In addition, 49 targeted strikes were made on thermal power plants and 151 strikes on substations in various regions of the country.
The largest number of shellings was recorded in Kyiv and Kyiv region, as well as in Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv regions. This concerns thermal and electrical generation — that is, objects on which the survival of the civilian population in winter directly depends.
The SBU emphasizes: these are not chaotic strikes but a consistent policy. The destruction of the energy system is qualified as a crime against humanity, as it creates living conditions aimed at destroying part of the population. This is a legal formulation behind which stand specific cold apartments, dark entrances, and people forced to survive in extreme conditions.
State Response: Emergency Mode
Against this backdrop, Volodymyr Zelensky announced the introduction of an emergency mode in Ukraine’s energy sector. The decision was made after a meeting dedicated to the consequences of massive Russian attacks and worsening weather conditions.
Special attention is given to the situation in Kyiv, where destruction and system load have become critical. The President announced the creation of a headquarters to coordinate the situation in the capital, as well as the round-the-clock work of repair teams, energy companies, utility services, and SES units.
In addition, the government is instructed to review curfew rules — taking into account new conditions and citizens’ needs. At the same time, work with international partners is being intensified to obtain equipment and additional support in the energy sector.
When the System Can’t Keep Up, People Work
It is against this backdrop that the activities of the Mitzvah Tanks acquire special meaning. The state solves strategic tasks — network restoration, international negotiations, resource redistribution. But between the emergency team and a specific apartment on the 18th floor without an elevator, there is a gap that volunteers fill.
It is also important that this help is not tied to the religion of the recipients. It is about humanitarian work in the truest sense of the word — helping people as people. The formula “even a small Light can dispel much darkness” in this case is not a metaphor but a practical description of what is happening.
Light as Action, Not a Slogan
In these events, there is no heroization and no pathos. There is fatigue, cold, destroyed networks, and at the same time — people who continue to come, warm, serve tea, and carry water without an elevator. There is a state that records crimes and tries to keep the system together. And there is a war in which energy is not only electricity but also the ability of society not to fall apart.
Against this backdrop, “Light will overcome darkness” sounds not as a slogan but as a working formula. Light is a generator, a thermos with tea, a charged phone, and a person who came because someone wrote an address in the comments.
And it is from such fragments that the Ukrainian winter is composed today — heavy, cold, but not hopeless. This is what NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency writes about, recording not only strikes and numbers but also that part of reality where help still arrives on time.
