Ukraine's energy system, severely affected by recent attacks. Generating capacity has “dropped to zero”, an official in the field announces
Power outage in Kiev Photo: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
The electricity supply was to be interrupted on Sunday between eight and 16 hours in most regions of Ukraine, stated the state operator Ukrenergo, after the Russian attacks that targeted the energy infrastructure reduced the country's generation capacity to “zero”, reports The Guardian, taken by News.ro.
Moscow, which has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure in recent months, launched hundreds of drones at energy facilities across the country overnight Friday into Saturday, killing at least seven people, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Russian attacks cut off electricity, heat and water supplies in several Ukrainian cities, with state-run energy company Tenterenergo warning that it had “dropped to zero” generation capacity. Ukrenergo said repairs had been made and power supplies had been redirected.
New massive attack on the Ukrainian energy system, electricity was cut off in several regions
Although the situation has somewhat stabilized, regions such as Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy may continue to suffer regular power outages, Ukraine's energy minister said late Saturday.
This weekend's attack was the ninth massive attack on natural gas infrastructure since early October, Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz said.
The Kyiv School of Economics estimated in a report that the attacks blocked half of Ukraine's natural gas production.
Ukraine's top energy expert, Oleksandr Harcenko, told a news conference on Wednesday that if Kiev's two power and thermal plants were shut down for more than three days when temperatures drop below minus 10C, the capital would face a “technological disaster”.
For its part, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil depots and refineries in recent months, trying to cut off Moscow's vital energy exports and cause fuel shortages across the country.
On Sunday morning, Russian air defense units destroyed 44 Ukrainian drones, the RIA news agency reported, citing daily data from the Russian Defense Ministry.
