Russian missile and drone attacks toppled more Ukraine power supplies on Thursday, forcing electricity grid operator Ukrenergo to prepare for rolling blackouts.
Power demand exceeded supply for the first time since Russian salvos began targeting electricity infrastructure last week, according to the latest Ukrenergo data published by the International Energy Agency. Officials appealed for Ukrainians to reduce consumption.
“The enemy’s constant missile attacks are destroying our energy infrastructure,” Ukrenergo said in a message posted on Telegram. Ukrainians need to be “conscious and frugal,” and electricity may be unavailable on Thursday between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time, it said.
Some analysts have characterized the Russian attacks as an electricity war and warned that a cascading grid failure could imperil Ukrainians when temperatures plummet. As the country’s network has been connected to Europe’s since March, an outage would have the potential to cross borders, destabilizing neighboring grids as well as increasing refugee flows.
Ukraine faced a power deficit of more than 500 megawatts on Wednesday after Russian missiles struck three electricity generators, according to the IEA data. The damage to facilities in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsya came on top of other attacks on power plants.
Until Thursday, Ukrenergo has been able to blunt the impact by shifting power loads on its transmission system. After Russia hit coal-fired plants last week, Ukraine compensated for the shortfall with hydropower and nuclear output. Reactors cover more than half of Ukraine generation but need steady sources of outside power to operate safely.
The Ukrainian energy system has suffered more attacks since Oct. 10 than at any time during Russia’s invasion, Ukrenergo said. About 30% of Ukrainian power stations have been destroyed since Oct. 10, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.
“It is very important energy is consumed with awareness tomorrow,” he said in his nightly address. “We are preparing for all possible scenarios in the light of approaching winter season. We proceed from the fact that Russian terror will be directed at energy facilities, until with the help of our partners, we can shoot down 100% of enemy’s missiles and drones.”
Kyiv, Lviv and other big cities have already experienced emergency power cutoffs, though some capacity has been restored.
Battles over Ukraine’s electricity grid and generating capacity have featured prominently since the first week of the war, when Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Europe’s biggest atomic station has six reactors and is designed to supply about a fifth of the country’s power needs.
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(With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska.)
