As a result of Russian attacks, half of Ukraineʼs energy system was damaged, said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with Foreign Policy.
Russian ballistic missiles are a real problem in the war, Kuleba said. Recently, the Russian Federation mainly used them to destroy the energy system of Ukraine.
“Weʼre hanging on because weʼve learned a lot. We are hardy; we know what the rates are. But half of our energy system is damaged, and we still have to run the country, conduct military operations and rally the support of the whole world," said Kuleba.
According to Kuleba, if another country suffered from such a scale of energy destruction, "it would look much worse than Ukraine."
Among the priority weapons for Ukraine, Kuleba named artillery ammunition and air defense systems, in particular Patriot batteries. In addition, means of radio-electronic warfare are needed.
Attacks on the Ukrainian energy industry
On March 22, the Russian occupiers launched the largest combined attack on the Ukrainian energy system since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. There was a blackout in Kharkiv. Among other things, the occupiers hit the Dnipro HPP, but there is no threat of a dam breach. Both stations that are part of the Dnipro HPP (HPP-1 and HPP-2) stopped working, while HPP-2 suffered critical damage.
On the night of March 29, Russia launched a large-scale missile strike against the facilities of the fuel and energy sector of Ukraine. Then it damaged the energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Cherkasy and Chernivtsi regions. The targets of the occupiers were also the Kaniv and Dniester hydropower plants located in the Cherkasy and Chernivtsi regions.
During the massive shelling of Ukraine on the night of April 11, the Russians completely destroyed the Trypillia TPP in the city of Ukrainka, Kyiv region. PJSC "Centrenergo" lost 100% of generation. It includes:
- Zmiivska TPP in the Kharkiv region (destroyed by the Russians);
- Trypillia TPP in the Kyiv region (destroyed by the Russians);
- Vuhlehirsk TPP in the Donetsk region (captured by the Russians).
On the night of April 27, the occupiers launched a combined attack on the energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions. The Russians damaged four TPPs. In total, Russia has shelled Ukrainian TPPs almost 180 times since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.