Ukraine anticipates power cuts after 'massive' Russian attack

Ukraine announced Wednesday of electricity restrictions at the end of the day after a new "massive" Russian drone and missile attack; against its energy network, which left at least one dead and around ten injured.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian electrical installations have suffered several waves of Russian bombing, causing serious damage and power outages.

“The enemy is not giving up its plans to deprive Ukrainians of light. New massive attack on our energy industry,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.

Electricity production and transmission sites were targeted in the regions of Poltava (east), Kirovograd (center), Zaporizhia (south), Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia (west) , he said.

The city of Kherson, in the south, was also “partially deprived of electricity” due to “enemy strikes “, according to the local governor.

At the end of the afternoon, the national electricity company Ukrenergo indicated that it will have to limit its energy supply to industries and businesses between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., due to the attack.

“The restrictions will be applied equally in all regions,” said the operator, calling on users to restrict their electricity consumption between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. to avoid emergency cuts.

Ukrenergo said this was the fifth “massive” attack on the energy network since March 22.

In the middle of day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy claimed to have restored power to more than 50,000 users temporarily deprived of electricity.

Photo released by Ukrainian emergency services on May 8, 2024, shows rescuers at the scene of a missile attack in Zaporizhzhia © Ukrainian emergency services – Handout

For its part, the Russian army assured that it had carried out strikes against the Ukrainian energy network and military industry in response to attacks by kyiv against its own installations.

– “Terror” –

The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 39 of the 55 missiles launched by Russia, as well only 20 of the 21 attack drones.

A resident in the rubble of a house destroyed by a missile attack in the village of Krasylivka, in the kyiv region, on May 8, 2024 in Ukraine

© AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

According to the DTEK company, the largest private investor in the energy sector in Ukraine, three thermal power plants were “seriously damaged”.

These nighttime attacks killed a 65-year-old woman in a village in the southern region of Kherson and injured three other people, according to the local prosecutor's office.

One person was also injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region (south), two in Brovary, near Kiev, at least two others in the capital, and an 8-year-old child in the Kirovograd region (center), according to local authorities.

In the middle of the day, a separate Russian strike also hit a sports field in Kharkiv (north-east), injuring seven people, including four children, the local prosecutor's office announced.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “Russian terror” after these attacks, and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a “Nazi”.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal took part in a new government working group responsible for preparing businesses and households for possible power and heating outages during the coming fall and winter.

Ukraine: positions of military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

On Telegram, he claimed that more than 800 heating installations had been destroyed or damaged since the Russian invasion and that the country had lost up to 8 gigawatts of electricity production.

According to him, Ukraine will need around a billion dollars (931 million euros) to restore its capabilities. kyiv has already raised 410 million euros through a “Support Fund for Energy in Ukraine” and 190 million dollars (177 million euros) through a support program of the United States Agency for Development (USAID).

– Enlisting detainees –

On the front, Moscow claimed Wednesday the capture of the locality Novokalynové, near Avdiïvka, conquered in mid-February, in the Donetsk region (east).

In recent weeks, the Russian army has been advancing in this area taking advantage of the lack of men and weapons of the Ukrainian troops.

To compensate for these deficiencies, the Ukrainian deputies adopted on Wednesday a text allowing, in exchange for liberation, to enlist volunteer prisoners in the army to fight, if they have less than three years left to serve.

According to the MP, Olena Chouliak, this This measure will not apply to detainees convicted of certain serious crimes – notably “intentional homicide of more than two people”, sexual violence, attacks on national security – or targeted by “serious” convictions for corruption.

Moscow has already recruited tens of thousands of prisoners from its penal colonies sent to fight on the front.

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