Ukraine says it last lost more than 9 gigawatts of power plant capacity across the country due to missile and drone attacks after Russia’s massive invasion in 2022.
“The situation is very serious,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday. Grid operator Ukrenergo is forced to carry out planned power outages due to the energy shortage.
In Kiev, electricity was cut off in several parts of the city in the afternoon because the maximum permitted consumption was exceeded.
The government’s main tasks now are better air defense and repair work on the damaged power stations, Shmyhal said. The energy system must become more decentralized and energy consumption more efficient, he added. “Our aim is to save at all levels: from large companies to small houses and flats,” the Prime Minister said.
The import of generators, solar cells and smaller power plants is subsidized. Kiev is also counting on more help from international partners. “We are working to expand imports from Europe to 2.2 gigawatts,” Shmyhal said.
The Russian military has been targeting thermal and hydroelectric power stations in Ukraine since March.
The base load of Ukrainian energy generation is ensured by the three nuclear power plants that are still under government control.
Currently, up to 1.7 gigawatts of additional power can be imported from neighboring EU countries and Moldova. However, for most Ukrainians, hours-long power outages are now part of everyday life.
Earlier, local officials said at least seven people were injured in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, including a baby and a 17-year-old boy.
“A one-month-old boy is in a satisfactory condition and is being treated as an outpatient,” Governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region Serhiy Lysak wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
Several residential buildings and cars were damaged by the explosion and subsequent fire, he added.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia fired two Iskander missiles and four drones from the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014 in violation of international law. These were shot down by the air defense system, the report said.
According to Lysak, the rocket debris crashed over the residential area causing damage.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The regular shelling of cities and civilian infrastructure – mainly energy supply facilities – has been part of the conflict from the start.
