FALCON POWERS – Due to the eighth major air attack on energy facilities and power lines carried out by Russia on Ukraine, Kyiv is fighting to keep electricity networks running. An official warns that Ukraine may “face a serious crisis this winter” if its Western partners do not take action.
Russia launched a new “massive” attack on energy infrastructure in western and southern Ukraine overnight from Friday to Saturday, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy. The ministry reported “damage to Ukrenergo (the national electricity company) facilities in the Zaporizhzhia (south) and Lviv (west) regions,” noting that two employees were hospitalized with injuries in Zaporizhzhia.
The ministry said this “massive” attack was the “eighth” on Ukrainian power facilities over the past three months, leading to repeated power outages as the electricity grid struggles to withstand the Russian strikes.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy also said on Saturday (June 22, 2024) that a Russian air strike had targeted a natural gas facility in the west of the country the previous night. The ministry added that it plans to import electricity at an unprecedented rate of 33,559 megawatt-hours after the latest air raids on Ukraine’s energy system.
Ukrainian authorities had reported on Thursday that energy infrastructure, including one of the plants, was damaged in a major Russian attack that injured seven people, including employees. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the intense Russian attacks have destroyed half of Ukraine’s energy capacities. On Thursday, he called for the rapid installation of solar panels and energy storage units “in every school and every hospital.”
For his part, Maksym Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, warned that Ukraine may “face a serious crisis this winter” if its Western partners do not take action. Kyiv has urged its allies to help rebuild the electricity grid, a project that requires major investments, and has also called on them to provide more air defense equipment to counter Russian bombardment.
