Ahead of winter, a concentrated airstrike on energy facilities… Zelensky: “Sanctions on Russian energy must be strengthened”
In the process of bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Russia targeted substations supplying power to two nuclear power plants, resulting in seven deaths, Ukrainian authorities reported on the 8th (local time).
According to AFP, AP, and Bloomberg News, Andriy Sibiga, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that “Russia has again attacked substations supplying power to the nuclear plants in the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions.”
He added, “This attack is not accidental but a meticulously planned strike,” and emphasized “Russia is deliberately threatening nuclear safety in Europe.”
Sibiga also criticized that “Russia’s airstrikes once again targeted people’s daily lives,” depriving communities of electricity, water, and heating, destroying critical infrastructure, and damaging rail networks.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 458 drones and 45 missiles overnight. Out of these, 406 drones and 9 missiles were neutralized.
In Dnipro, a drone attack led to the collapse of a nine-story building, resulting in three deaths and injuries to twelve people. Among the injured were two children, as reported by rescue authorities.
The overnight airstrikes halted electricity production at several Ukrainian power plants, cutting off power supply in many areas.
Ukraine’s state-owned energy company, Centrenergo, announced on Facebook that it had experienced the largest airstrike since the war began in 2022, leading to a cessation of power production.
Centrenergo operates the Trypilska and Zmiivska thermal power stations in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions, respectively. The Trypilska plant is the largest power station in the Kyiv area and had been severely damaged by a missile attack in April last year before being restored.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, also reported on Telegram that the facilities at a thermal power plant, which was unspecified in location, were damaged.
A regional official reported that in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, a Russian airstrike killed one energy company worker, resulted in emergency power outages, and disrupted water supply.
In the southern port city of Odesa, drone attacks the previous night damaged energy infrastructure, while power and water were cut off in Kremenchuk, according to local authorities.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have targeted complexes of military-industrial enterprises and energy facilities that support the operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X (formerly Twitter), that sanctions targeting Russian energy are necessary due to airstrikes on energy infrastructure intended to harm civilians before winter, pointing out that Russia’s nuclear sector has not faced sanctions so far.
He further emphasized the need for greater pressure on oil and gas trade, expressing expectations for related decisions from the United States, Europe, and the Group of Seven (G7).
With the war entering its fourth winter, concerns in Ukraine are growing due to the strikes on energy facilities. Russia has continuously attacked the power grid ahead of winter when heating demand rises.
Ukrainian energy expert Oleksandr Kharchenko recently warned in a media briefing that if Kyiv’s co-generation plants are shut down for more than four days when temperatures fall below minus 10 degrees Celsius, it will lead to technical disasters.
Similarly, Ukraine has increased its offensive on Russian oil facilities in recent months. On the evening of the 7th, a drone attack on energy infrastructure in Russia’s southern Volgograd region caused power outages, according to Governor Andrey Bocharov.