Attacks severely damaged thermal and hydroelectric power plants
Kyiv:
Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large power plant near Kiev on Thursday and attacked power facilities in multiple regions, officials said, adding to pressure on Ukraine’s troubled energy system as Ukraine’s air defense capabilities fall short.
The major attack, more than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, completely destroyed the Trepilska coal-fired power plant near the capital, a senior official of the company that operates the facility told Reuters.
Unconfirmed videos shared on social media showed the massive Soviet-era facility burning, with black smoke billowing from inside.
“We need air defense and other defense support, not closed eyes and long discussions,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app, denouncing the attacks as “terror.”
Kyiv’s calls for emergency air defense supplies from the West have become increasingly urgent since Russia renewed long-range air attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems last month.
The attacks hit thermal and hydroelectric plants, raising concerns about the resilience of an energy system that was crippled by Russian airstrikes during the first winter of the war.
The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force said that the air defense system shot down 18 incoming missiles and 39 drones. The military said a total of 82 missiles and drones were used in the attack.
The destroyed power plant outside Kiev was the main electricity supplier to the Kiev, Cherkasy and Zhitomir regions and was the third and final plant owned by state-owned energy company Centrenergo.
Asked about Centrenergo’s situation, Andriy Gota, chairman of the company’s supervisory board, said: “Everything is ruined.”
Ukrenergo grid operator said its substations and power generation facilities were damaged in attacks in the Odessa, Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, Lviv and Kiev regions.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power company, lost 80% of its generating capacity in Russian attacks on March 22 and March 29, which it said hit two of its power stations, causing severe damage.
Energy company Naftogaz said the attack also hit two underground storage facilities in Ukraine storing natural gas, some of which are owned by foreign companies. The facilities continue to operate, it added.
“The situation in Ukraine is serious and there is no need to delay,” U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brinker said, adding that 10 missiles had hit critical infrastructure in the Kharkiv region alone.
Presidential Assistant Oleksiy Kuleba said that the Kharkiv region on the border with Russia has implemented long-term rolling blackouts, and 200,000 people have been forced to lose power.
air defense request
Ukraine has warned it could run out of anti-aircraft munitions if Russia continues to intensify its strikes, and it has already had to make difficult decisions about who to defend.
Ukraine says vital aid from the West has slowed and a major U.S. aid package has been blocked by congressional Republicans for months.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia’s nighttime attack used six ballistic missiles, which can hit their targets within minutes and are harder to shoot down. Kyiv says that’s why it needs the American-made Patriot air defense system.
“Ukraine remains the only country in the world facing ballistic attacks. There is currently nowhere else for ‘patriots’ to go,” Kuleba wrote on social media platform X.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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