Ukrainian technicians on Sunday worked to repair damage caused by one of Russia’s worst attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure a day earlier, a situation described as “difficult” by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Tens of thousands of people are still living without power after massive Russian attacks on the country’s electricity and gas networks killed at least four people, while Ukraine’s response caused disruption in several Russian regions.
“Repair teams are working almost around the clock in most areas (…) Efforts to restore (power) continue and, despite the difficult situation, thousands of people are participating in stabilizing the system and repairing damage,” according to the Ukrainian president.
For weeks, Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and rail network, raising fears of another difficult winter.
Kyiv, for its part, regularly targets oil depots and refineries and other installations in Russia.
This week, at least 20,000 people lost power after Ukrainian attacks in the Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions that border Russia.
100,000 people without electricity in the Kharkiv region
According to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister in charge of reconstruction, Dmytro Kouleba, the Russian attack on Saturday caused “enormous damage” and at least 100,000 people are still without electricity, water and heating in the Kharkiv region (northeast).
Authorities in other regions also reported ongoing cuts and repairs, without specifying the number of homes affected.
Complicated repair
Saturday’s attack, involving more than 450 drones and 45 missiles, was “one of the most serious for the energy sector since the start of the war”, Deputy Energy Minister Artyom Nekrassov said on television.
According to him, Russian forces are now trying to “simultaneously attack production facilities, electricity transmission and distribution systems”, making repairs complicated.
“Most productions are impacted,” he added, describing the situation at the network as “difficult.”
Centerenergo production “reduced to zero”
Consequences: in most regions of the country, emergency cuts aimed at balancing the system had to be carried out by state network manager Ukrenergo, who announced that they would resume on Monday.
Electricity group Centerenergo, which manages three power plants, including one in Russian-occupied territory, and 15% of the country’s needs according to its website, warned on Saturday that its production capacity had been “reduced to zero”.
Russia’s massive energy attacks in Ukraine have occurred in previous winters, at times leaving millions of people in the dark.
This year’s campaign, which is stronger, has raised fears of an even harsher winter to come. The director of Ukraine’s Energy Research Center, Oleksandr Kharchenko, warned this week that his country faced “significant risks” from reduced warming.
