Just before the start of the heating season, Russia is terrorizing Ukraine with attacks on the energy infrastructure. The Russian army is trying to inflict maximum damage on the Ukrainian energy sector. The rocket and drone attacks target power plants and power grids – the entire supply chain is targeted.
Massive attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Dnipro and Kharkiv, also took place on Tuesday morning. As early as Monday there were attacks on targets in the capital and in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, resulting in water and power cuts.
The most violent attacks since the beginning of Russia’s invasion came on October 10th and 11th. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter that 30 percent of Ukraine’s electricity plants had been destroyed since then. This has led to massive power outages across the country. There is no longer any room for negotiations with Putin’s regime.
Where the damage was repaired immediately, Russia attacked again. In Lviv in western Ukraine, for example, the lights went out again after the power grid there had been repaired the day before.
“The cynicism is that the entire supply chain is being hit, including power distribution systems and power generation. This is how the enemy wants to make it more difficult to restore the power supply from other sources,” explains Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
“No one in Europe has done anything like what we have to do in this war. Nobody has experienced such great destruction before. Our workers are on duty 24/7 to repair the networks as quickly as possible and to supply electricity to all consumers,” explains the head of the state energy company Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.
The company assumes that Russian energy experts are involved in planning the attacks. “This demonstrates the scale and range of attack targets on the Ukrainian power grid. The aggressor deliberately chooses places where he can cause the greatest damage so that as many Ukrainians as possible are left in the dark and cold,” said Ukrenergo.
The government in Kyiv also promises to carry out repairs immediately so that the Ukrainians do not feel the consequences of the Russian attacks. “Each region has an anti-crisis response plan,” Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal assured Telegram on October 17.
For its part, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine said that international partners would provide Ukraine with humanitarian assistance in repairing the energy sector.
After massive attacks, it was usually possible to restore the power supply within a few days, but the Ukrainians are being asked to save electricity.
“Please reduce electricity consumption during the day and especially during the evening peak hours from 5pm to 11pm. This will help to restore and maintain the stability of the energy system, which the Russians want to destroy,” said Energy Minister Halushchenko.
Prime Minister Schmyhal had previously declared that power consumption throughout Ukraine must be reduced by 25 percent. He appealed not only to private consumers, but also to companies. For example, neon signs and power-guzzling devices should be switched off during peak hours.
And the population follows the calls. “In the evening hours, Ukrainians deliberately restricted the use of electronic devices. The people of Kyiv and the region together reduced consumption by seven percent. The residents of the Chernihiv region reduced their consumption the most, by almost 20 percent,” Ukrenergo said.
Because of the attacks, Ukraine had to stop exporting electricity to European countries. This should help to stabilize your own system.
“It was Ukraine’s electricity exports that helped Europe reduce consumption of Russian energy resources. That is why Russia is now destroying our energy system, preventing the possibility of exporting electricity from Ukraine,” explains Energy Minister Halushchenko.
On October 10, four Russian rockets hit a facility at the Burshtyn coal-fired power plant in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, which connects Ukraine’s power grid with Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. From there, Ukrainian electricity was exported to the European Union.
Ukraine has not yet asked European countries for emergency assistance to stabilize energy supplies, which have been disrupted by Russian military attacks.
As Ukrenergo announced, the Ukrainian operator has the option to request emergency aid at any time. There are corresponding agreements with the operators of the networks in neighboring European countries.
Adaptation from the Ukrainian: Markian Ostapchuk
Author: Lilia Rzheutska, Daria Nynko
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The original of this article “Russian attacks on the energy grids of Ukraine” comes from Deutsche Welle.