On Thursday, a series of missile strikes from Russia hit several regions in Ukraine, causing power outages in multiple areas and severing the electricity supply to a nuclear power plant that is controlled by Russia. The state operator of Ukraine’s power plants, Energoatom, confirmed that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had lost its power supply as a result of the attacks, stating that “the last connection between the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the Ukrainian power system has been cut off.” Officials installed by Russia in the Zaporizhzhia region dismissed the disruption of electricity to the nuclear power station from Ukrainian-controlled territory as “a provocation.”
According to Energoatom, the fifth and sixth reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been shut down due to the Russian missile attacks. The plant is now being powered by 18 diesel generators, which have enough fuel to last for 10 days. The attacks targeted several cities across Ukraine, including Zhytomyr, Vynnytsia, Rivne, Dnipro, Poltava, and even the south-western part of the capital city, Kyiv, where explosions were reported. In addition, the governor of Odesa region reported on Telegram that a mass missile attack had hit an energy facility in the Black Sea port city, causing power cuts and damage to nearby residences. The governor also warned of potential further attacks and stated that anti-aircraft units had successfully intercepted some of the missiles.
Fortunately, there are no casualties. Electricity restrictions are in effect.
Although residential areas were hit, there were no reported casualties from the Russian missile attacks. Oleh Synehubov, governor of Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv, reported that the city and surrounding areas were hit by 15 strikes, with infrastructure among the targets. Ukrainian Railways reported power outages in certain areas, causing delays for some trains. Emergency power cuts were implemented in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Odesa regions, resulting in around 15% of energy consumers in the capital being without power, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Further explosions were reported in the cities of Chernihiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Lutsk, and Rivne.
Ukrainian media also reported explosions in the western regions of Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil. Russia has been hitting Ukraine with these massive missile attacks since last October.
Initially, the barrages targeting the country’s energy infrastructure took place weekly, plunging the entire cities into darkness, but became more spread out in time, with commentators speculating that Moscow may be saving up ammunition.
