Ukrhydroenerho, Ukraine’s state hydropower company, has disclosed that a Russian strike hit the country’s largest dam, the DniproHES in Zaporizhzhia.
The company stated that there was no risk of a breach.
Also, Ukrainian officials announced that Russian drones and missiles targeted power plants, energy supply lines, a hydroelectric dam, and residential buildings.
“There is currently a fire at the station. Emergency services and energy workers are working on the spot, dealing with the consequences of numerous air strikes,” the company said, adding that energy infrastructure in other regions was also hit.
Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company, Naftogaz disclosed that its facilities were damaged during Russia’s overnight strikes on Ukraine’s energy system.
“Specialists are already working on restoring the damage, electricity supply has already been restored to some of the (affected) facilities, our gas workers are also working on restoring damaged gas networks,” Naftogaz said in a statement.
German Galushchenko, Ukraine’s Energy Minister, asserted that it was the largest attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure of recent.
“The goal is not just to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country’s energy system,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that it downed 92 of 151 missiles and drones fired by Russia.
According to a senior presidential official, the Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy facilities left more than one million consumers across the country without power.
Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy head of the presidential administration, said thatthe strikes had impacted about 700,000 residents in the eastern Kharkiv region, at least 200,000 each in the southern Odesa and southeastern Dnipropetrovsk regions and another 110,000 in the central Poltava region.
More than 1,060 miners, who were stuck underground in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region due to power outages caused by a Russian bombardment, were evacuated.
The firm that operates the affected mines said on Telegram that all miners were undergoing medical examination. There were no casualties.
Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal noted that as a result of the shelling, there were problems with electricity supply in some areas.
Nonetheless, “In general, the situation in the energy sector is under control, there is no need for blackouts throughout the country,” he said.
“Rescuers and energy workers are already working to quickly restore the light,” he added.
Shmyhal went on to call for the supply of “more weapons and more air defence systems” for Ukraine.
“And Russia needs more sanctions and greater isolation. War must become an unbearable burden for the aggressor,” he stressed.
Zelenskyy Appeals For Aid
Reacting to the situation, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “The world sees the targets of Russian terrorists as clearly as possible: power plants and energy supply lines, a hydroelectric dam, ordinary residential buildings, even a trolleybus.”
He stated that Russia’s attack involved dozens of missiles and drones.
“There were more than 60 ‘Shaheds’ [drones] and almost 90 missiles of various types overnight,” he said.
Zelenskyy also repeated his appeal to Western countries for more weapons.
“Russian missiles do not have delays, as do aid packages to our country. The ‘Shahed’ have no indecision, like some politicians. It is important to understand the cost of delays and postponed decisions,” he said.
“We need air defence to protect people, infrastructure, homes and dams. Our partners know exactly what is needed. They can definitely support us … Life must be protected from these non-humans from Moscow.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Later, Russia’s defence ministry defended its actions, saying that its wave of strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure was part of a series of revenge attacks to punish Kyiv for its earlier incursions into Russian territory.
In a statement, the ministry admitted that it successfully struck several power grid objects, railway nodes, ammunition depots, and other targets this morning.
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