Ukraine: three nuclear power plants reconnected to the grid

The first step before returning to the normal life that was hoped for in the evening. The Energy Ministry said on Thursday that three Ukrainian nuclear power plants controlled by Kyiv were able to reconnect to the grid after they were shut off the day before due to massive Russian strikes.

“After yesterday’s massive shelling, power engineers were able (…) to reconnect three nuclear power plants to the power grid in the morning,” the ministry said, adding that these facilities should start supplying electricity from here “tonight.” They were disabled by the automatic protection system.

“If there are no new strikes, then by the end of the day we will be able to reduce the shortage of electricity in the energy system,” Minister German Galushchenko said.

In the country, “the situation is generally not easy,” but in some regions, “the supply of electricity has already increased,” Mr. Galushchenko assured that “critical infrastructure across the country” could be reconnected to the electricity grid.

70% of the capital remains without electricity

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, for his part, said that the share of “70% of the capital in the morning was left without electricity.”

The water supply, interrupted the day before in almost the entire city due to a power outage, has been restored in areas located on the left bank of the Dnieper, the mayor said. He hoped that the rest of Kyiv would be provided with water later that day.

More than 70 cruise missiles launched.

On Wednesday, Russia fired more than 70 cruise missiles into Ukraine, exacerbating the energy crisis after weeks of bombing aimed primarily at energy infrastructure.

The strikes have left “the vast majority of consumers” without power in a country that provided some 40 million people before the February 24 Russian invasion, according to the Energy Ministry.