© Ukraine Prosecutor Office/Telegramthe Dnieper Hydro Power Plant in the Kiev-controlled part of Zaporozhye Region was damaged in a massive Russian airstrike March 22, 2024
The Russian military has launched a powerful wave of air and missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight, officials in Kiev have claimed. The Defense Ministry in Moscow has yet to comment on the assertions.
Reports on the ground described it as the most powerful attack for many months. One Russian missile strike targeted the Dnieper Hydro Power Plant (HPP) in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporozhye, according to Ukrhydroenergo. The company stated that the facility had been hit and that a fire was raging at the site.
Officials insisted that "there is no danger of a breach" to the dam and that the situation was under control. Igor Sirota, the head of Ukrhydroenergo, assessed the scale of the damage as extensive, stating that "as of now, we are losing the station.""A new missile attack on Ukraine. Explosions were heard in Kharkivska, Zaporozhye, Khmelnitsky, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk. oblasts.
Energy Minister Galushchenko said this was the most large-scale attack on the Ukrainian energy sector in recent times. There are hits on generation facilities, transmission and distribution systems in different regions.
There was a powerful hit in Zaporizhzhya region. The Dnieper hydroelectric power plant Dnieper hydroelectric power station (on video). Traffic is blocked at the dam. Also because of the shelling one of the power lines feeding the Zaporozhye plant was de-energized.
The Russians launched 12 missile strikes on Zaporizhzhya itself. Preliminarily 7 houses were destroyed, 35 were damaged. There are wounded.
Kharkiv has been de-energized. There were more than 15 strikes on energy facilities in the city.
In Sumy region, emergency shutdown schedules were introduced in Sumy, Konotop and Shostka districts after arrivals.
Kryvyi Rih introduced emergency shutdown schedules. Hospitals and other infrastructure, where possible, are switching to generators.
City there is a hit to critical infrastructure.
Kropivnitsky disappeared electricity in a number of neighborhoods. Also in some settlements the power supply was cut off in an emergency.
There was a hit on the object of critical infrastructure is in Vinnytsia region. The same in Ivano-Frankivsk region, there are victims.
Poltava region was hit in Mirgorod district. In the region applied preventive shutdowns of power substations and a schedule of shutdowns for 10 queues. They are deploying "points of indestructibility".
Khmelnytskyi there are flights on critical infrastructure and dead.
In Lviv region, a forested area in Zolochevskyi district is on fire after the shooting down of "Shahed".
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Comment: Evience of Russia's care and accuracy. The dam's control center is out of commission, but the dam itself is not a danger to the area. Contrast this with Ukraine's wanton destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and the devastating downstream flooding,
- Kiev's long term plans to blow up the Kakhovka Dam
- Ukraine bombed dam with American missiles - Kherson officials
Videos and photos circulating on social media appear to show a fire on a dam adjacent to the Dnieper HPP.
In a post on Facebook on Friday, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko alleged that Russia's goal was "not only to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country's energy system.""More footage of the fire at the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant after the missile strike.
Mariupol mayor's adviser Petro Andryushchenko claims that one of them shows a burned trolleybus that was transporting the station's employees. This has not been officially confirmed."
"Unfortunately, there are impacts and damage to power generation facilities, transmission and distribution systems in various regions," he wrote, noting that one of the power lines linked to Russia's Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant had been severed. Zaporozhye Region joined Russia in a referendum in the fall of 2022.
Meanwhile, massive blackouts have been reported elsewhere in the country, including Kharkov, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Vinnitsa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Nikolaev regions. According to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Moscow used more than 60 drones and almost 90 missiles of different types in the barrage.
Kharkov Mayor Igor Terekhov said that there had been 15 explosions in the city, reporting issues with water supplies, while traffic lights and electric transport have been completely disabled.
The head of Odessa Region, Oleg Kiper, said Russian strikes had left around 53,000 people without electricity, with work underway to repair the damage.
Commenting on the latest strikes, Russian MP Mikhail Sheremet stated they were in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilians in Belgorod and other border areas, which left dozens of civilians dead.
Moscow began targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the autumn of 2022 in retaliation for the bombing of the strategic Crimean Bridge in October of the same year. While Kiev initially denied responsibility, it later claimed that the attack was intended to undermine Russian logistics.
Comment: Looks like Russia is finally taken the gloves off. Notice though, the strikes are aimed at crippling military infrastructure, as Ukraine moves most of its armaments by electric train. An though this strikes will impose hardships on the common people, they've been made at the start of the warmer season, as oppose to the dead of a Ukrainian winter.