Ukraine scramble to turn the lights back on after devastating Russian strikes leave power generating capacity ‘at zero’

Ukraine was scrambling to turn off the lights and stay warm on Sunday after Russian attacks targeted its energy infrastructure and the state electricity provider said production capacity had been reduced to ‘zero’.

Moscow, which has increased its attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure in recent months, launched hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles at energy facilities across the country until Saturday.

Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s own infrastructure have meanwhile left more than 20,000 people without electricity in areas bordering Ukraine, local officials said.

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

“An unprecedented number of missiles and countless drones (several per minute) targeted the thermal power plants we restored after the devastating attack in 2024,” Centerenergo said in a statement.

Ukrenergo, the state electricity transmission system operator, said electricity would be cut in most regions of Ukraine on Sunday for eight to 16 hours a day, repairs were carried out and energy supplies would be diverted.

Ukraine’s Minister of Energy said that what happened was “one of the most difficult nights” since Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

Svitlana Grynchuk said on Saturday evening that although the situation has stabilized somewhat, regular power outages may continue in regions such as Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernigiv and Sumy.

The power outage follows Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight

Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s own infrastructure have left more than 20,000 people without electricity in areas bordering Ukraine, local officials said

‘The enemy launched a major attack with ballistic missiles that are extremely difficult to shoot down. It’s hard to remember so many direct attacks on energy facilities since the beginning of the occupation,’ he told local broadcaster United News.

Kiev Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga stated that Russian drones targeted two nuclear energy substations in western Ukraine and called on the UN’s nuclear watchdog to respond.

He said the substations provide power to the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants, which are 75 and 99 miles from Lutsk, respectively.

‘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,” he wrote on Telegram late Saturday, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 406 unmanned aerial vehicles and nine missiles, out of 458 unmanned aerial vehicles and 45 missiles launched by Russia until Saturday.

Attacks on energy infrastructure put Ukraine at risk of heating blackouts ahead of the winter months, 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 the dam, which was built overnight until Saturday, was the ninth major attack on gas infrastructure since early October.

While Russian attacks disrupted electricity, heat and water supplies in many cities, state-owned electricity company Centerenergo warned that its production capacity had fallen to zero.

Ukrenergo, the state electricity transmission system operator, said electricity would be cut off for eight to 16 hours a day in most regions of Ukraine on Sunday.

Kiev Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Russian drones targeted two nuclear energy substations deep in western Ukraine.

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

Ukraine’s leading energy expert Oleksandr Kharchenko 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.

Ukrainian cities that rely mostly on central heating should prepare emergency plans to prevent buildings from freezing in case heating sources are destroyed, he said.

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.

A fire broke out at a power plant in the western Kursk region and southern Voronezh region following Ukrainian attacks, regional governors said on Sunday.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said “the electricity and heating supply network suffered serious damage” in the regional capital of the same name following the dam from Kiev, where Gladkov said “more than 20,000 residents” were left without electricity.

Russian authorities extended the ban on oil exports until the end of October in an attempt to contain rising fuel prices following Ukrainian attacks on refineries in the summer.