Russia again 'massively' hits Ukraine's energy network

Photo: Ukrainian emergency services via Agence France-Presse Ukrainian rescuers are working at the site of a Russian attack on Thursday in the Donetsk region.

Victoria Lukovenko – Agence France-Presse to kyiv

10:51 a.m.

• Europe

Ukraine imposed emergency power cuts in several regions on Friday after new massive Russian strikes “severely” damaged three thermal power plants, with kyiv calling on the West for help.

A separate drone attack also caused the death of a civilian and injured a man in the town of Myrivska, announced the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiï Lyssak.

On the Russian side, a civilian was killed and two others injured by a Ukrainian drone that crashed into an apartment building in Belgorod, a town close to Ukraine, the regional governor said Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The Ukrainian air forces, for their part, assured that they had destroyed the vast majority of the 99 Russian missiles and drones — a particularly high number — launched during this new wave of night bombings.

Moscow has intensified its airstrikes against Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting the energy network in particular and saying it is acting in retaliation for Kiev's attacks in its border regions.

In its daily report, the Russian army confirmed having targeted energy infrastructure during the night but also Ukrainian “anti-aircraft defenses” with missiles, particularly hypersonic ones, and drones.

In total, ten regions were targeted across Ukraine and six people, including a child, were injured in these strikes, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.

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Three plants affected

Three Ukrainian thermal power plants suffered significant damage after Russian fire, said the Ukrainian energy supplier DTEK, without giving the location of these installations.

“The occupiers attacked three DTEK thermal power plants. The equipment was seriously damaged,” the company lamented in a press release, specifying that its engineers had “quickly” reacted to deal with the damage.

The national operator Ukrenergo said it was “forced to urgently carry out (power) cuts until the evening” in three regions due to the “lack of production capacity” of electricity following of the Russian “massive attack.” “Restrictions” were already in place in two other areas after previous bombings.

“Ukraine needs more air defense systems,” argued Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, denouncing “barbaric attacks on the Ukrainian energy system”.

Energy Minister German Galushchenko previously announced that a “massive attack” had particularly targeted energy production sites in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Cherkasy regions.

The governor of Dnipropetrovk, for his part, reported that “several energy installations” had been damaged there.

kyiv is calling on its Western allies to send it more aid, and faster. But, in Brussels as in Washington, political divisions have hampered the delivery of arms and the sending of funds in recent months.

Ukrainian officials insist in particular on supplies of additional Patriot batteries. This powerful and expensive air defense system was first delivered to Ukraine in spring 2023.

President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Friday of the need to “replenish stocks more quickly” of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense and said “count on the rapid reaction” of his country's Western allies.

Gliding Bombs

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Oleksandr Syrsky, in an interview broadcast on Friday, for his part noted that the advantage of the Russian army in terms of ammunition fired on both sides , was “six to one” a few days ago.

According to him, with better anti-aircraft defense and more ammunition, Ukraine “without a doubt” could have kept some of the positions it recently lost.

Oleksandr Syrsky further asserted that Russia had “significantly increased the activity of its aviation”, notably using guided aerial bombs “which destroy our positions”.

The Ukrainian air forces said on Friday they had destroyed “84 aerial targets”, including 26 missiles and 58 Iranian-made Shahed drones, out of 99 such devices they said were launched by the Russians.

The Russian army sends missiles or drones into its neighbor's territory almost every night, but their number is generally lower.

The Polish army, for its part, reported increased surveillance of Polish airspace, a few days after a Russian missile fired towards towns in western Poland. Ukraine flew over its territory for 39 seconds.