Ukraine imposes restrictions on electricity supply after Russian attacks on its infrastructure

Ukraine announced power restrictions late Wednesday afternoon following a new “massive” Russian drone and missile attack on its energy grid that left at least one person dead and about a dozen injured.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian electrical installations have been hit by several waves of Russian bombing, which have resulted in severe damage and power outages. “The enemy is not giving up plans to deprive Ukrainians of light. A new massive attack on our energy sector,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.

According to him, electricity production and transmission facilities were attacked in Poltava (east), Kirovograd (center), Zaporozhye (south), Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia regions (west). The southern city of Kherson was also “partially deprived of electricity” due to “enemy strikes,” according to the local governor.

Late in the afternoon, national electricity company Ukrenergo said it would have to limit power to businesses and businesses from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. because of the attack. “The restrictions will be applied equally in all regions,” the operator said, urging users to limit their electricity consumption between 18:00 and 23:00 to avoid blackouts.

At noon, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said it had restored power to more than 50,000 customers temporarily without power.

For its part, the Russian army said it had struck Ukrainian energy networks and military industries in response to Kyiv’s attacks on its own facilities.

Several people were injured in the attacks

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 39 of 55 missiles fired by Russia, as well as 20 of 21 attack drones. According to DTEK, the largest private investor in Ukraine’s energy sector, three thermal power plants suffered “serious damage.”

The overnight attacks in a village in southern Kherson killed a 65-year-old woman and wounded three other people, according to local prosecutors. One person was also injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region (south), two in Brovary near Kiev, at least two more in the capital and an 8-year-old child in the Kirovograd region (center), local authorities said. . In the middle of the day, a separate Russian strike also hit a sports ground in Kharkov (northeast), wounding seven people, including four children, local prosecutors said.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmyhal took part in the work of a new government working group tasked with preparing businesses and the population for possible power and heating outages in the upcoming autumn-winter period. He said on Telegram that more than 800 thermal installations have been destroyed or damaged since the Russian invasion and that the country has lost up to 8 gigawatts of electricity production.

According to him, to restore its capabilities, Ukraine will need about a billion dollars (931 million euros). Kyiv has already collected 410 million euros through the Ukraine Energy Supply Fund and 190 million dollars (177 million euros) through the US Development Agency (USAID) support program.