Ukraine facing widespread power cuts after generating capacity reduced to ‘zero’ by Russian attacks | Ukraine

State transmission system operator Ukrenergo said electricity would be cut for eight to 16 hours in most regions of Ukraine on Sunday, after Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure reduced the country’s generation capacity to “zero”.

Moscow, which has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure in recent months, launched hundreds of drones at energy facilities across the country from Friday to Saturday, killing at least seven people in these attacks, according to Ukrainian officials.

While Russia’s attacks disrupted electricity, heat and water supplies in various cities of Ukraine, the state energy company Centerenergo warned that its production capacity had “fallen to zero”.

Ukrenergo said repairs were carried out and energy resources were diverted.

Ukraine’s energy minister said on Saturday night that although the situation has stabilized somewhat, regular power outages may continue to occur in regions such as Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy.

Svitlana Grynchuk told local broadcaster United News: “The enemy carried out a massive attack with ballistic missiles that were extremely difficult to shoot down. It is difficult to remember so many direct attacks on energy facilities since the beginning of the occupation.”

Kiev foreign minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Russian drones targeted two nuclear energy substations in western Ukraine and called on the UN nuclear watchdog to respond.

The substations supply power to the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants, about 120 km and 95 km (75 miles and 59 miles) from Lutsk, respectively, he said.

Referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, he wrote on Telegram late on Saturday: “Russia is deliberately endangering nuclear security in Europe. We call for an urgent meeting of the IAEA Executive Board to respond to these unacceptable risks.”

Sybiha also called for pressure on Moscow to stop its attacks on China and India, traditionally major buyers of Russian oil.

Attacks on energy infrastructure put Ukraine at risk of heating blackouts before winter, experts said. During its almost four-year occupation, Russia targeted electricity and heating grids, destroying large swaths of basic civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine’s energy company Naftogaz said this weekend’s attack was the ninth major attack on gas infrastructure since early October.

The Kiev School of Economics estimated in a report that the attacks halted half of Ukraine’s natural gas production.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, Ukraine’s leading energy expert, told a media briefing on Wednesday that the capital would face a “technological disaster” if Kiev’s two power and heating plants were to remain offline for more than three days if temperatures dropped below minus 10C.

Ukraine has also stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil depots and refineries in recent months, aiming to cut off Moscow’s vital energy exports and trigger fuel shortages across the country.

Early on Sunday, Russia’s air defense units destroyed 44 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, RIA news agency reported, citing daily data from the Russian defense ministry.

With additional reporting from Reuters