IMG 20240510 WA0040
Picture courtesy: (Reuters) Ukraine’s on fire after Russia launched its largest airstrike in weeks.
After the attack was launched, Ukraine’s air force had at least managed to shut down 39 of the 55 missiles and 20 of the 21 attack drones used for the attack. The energy system was already under pressure after Russia launched its first full-scale invasion. Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the Telegram app, arguing that another massive attack was launched in their energy industry.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address that on the day Ukraine marked the end of World War Two, the attacks were launched, matching the attack to how the Kremlin marked the end of World War Two in Europe with a massive strike with the purpose of disrupting the lives of our people with its Nazism.
Russia’s defense ministry argued that it struck Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy facilities in retribution for Kyiv’s strikes on Russian energy facilities. On the other hand, a NATO military alliance official argued that Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries resulted in disrupting more than 15% of Russian oil refining capacity. According to Galushchenko, the power generation and transmission facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia regions were also attacked by Russia.
More than 350 rescuers have at least tried to minimize the damage to the facilities. The interior ministry announced that 30 homes, public transport vehicles, cars, and a fire station were damaged. National power grid operator Ukrenergo argued that it was forced to introduce electricity cuts in nine regions for consumers.
In addition, it would expand them nationwide for businesses during peak evening hours until 11 p.m.Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, interviewed by the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet, stated that electricity imports would not make up for power shortages, and earlier, after the attack by the Russian company for omitting hydroelectric stations from the list of affected facilities, we were not hit by the attack.
The citizens will suffer the most as there will be power cuts for industrial users. However, interruptions for domestic users would depend on how well they reduced consumption. This comes after most of the important power stations were damaged, mentioning three stations operated by DTEK, Ukraine’s biggest private company, as well as two hydropower stations. Although the damage is on quite a large scale, there is a significant loss of generating power, notably that even imports of power coming from Europe will not be able to cover the shortage that has been created in the energy system.
DTEK is determined to keep working to restore power at its facilities, and its CEO, Maxim Timchenko, requested Ukraine’s allies to provide more air defense systems. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal roughly estimated that at least 800 heating facilities had been damaged and up to 8 GW of power generation lost so far, of which the government requires $1 billion to fund repair work.
About the Author
