Russian attacks hit 80% of Ukrainian thermal power plants

Russian attacks have hit 80% of Ukraine’s thermal power plants and half of its hydroelectric power plants in recent weeks, Ukraine’s energy minister said on Monday, condemning the “biggest attack” on the country’s energy sector.

“We can say that about 80% of thermal power plants, more than half of hydroelectric power plants, and a large number of power stations were attacked,” Minister German Galushchenko said at a press conference.

The press service of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine told AFP that thermal power plants were damaged as a result of these attacks, but did not specify the level of damage caused.

“This is the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy sector,” the minister added, noting that these attacks occur almost daily and have led, in particular, to long power outages in Kharkov, Ukraine’s second city.

Galushchenko said the “scale and consequences” of this new wave of attacks are “much greater” compared to the Moscow-led campaign last winter, when millions of Ukrainians were deprived of electricity and heating during sub-zero temperatures.

The Ukrainian minister stressed that the Russian army modified the “drones” and missiles used for these bombings, making them “even more dangerous.”

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, electricity production was relatively balanced between coal and gas power plants and nuclear power plants with a lower percentage of hydropower.

The Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye (south), the largest in Europe and located in the region of the same name, has been occupied by Russia since the beginning of the war and no longer produces electricity.