Russian forces unleashed a major airstrike on Ukraine's critical infrastructure early Wednesday, targeting nearly a dozen power generation and transmission facilities across the country. The attack, which Ukrainian officials described as the biggest aerial onslaught by Russian forces in weeks, has put additional strain on Ukraine's already beleaguered energy system more than two years into the full-scale invasion.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia used 55 missiles and 21 attack drones in the assault, launched from both Russia and Russian-controlled areas. The air force claimed to have shot down 39 of the missiles and 20 of the drones. Despite the air defense efforts, the strike caused serious damage to three Soviet-era thermal power plants and other energy facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia regions.
"Another massive attack on our energy industry!" Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the Telegram app, emphasizing the severity of the situation. The minister refrained from naming the specific facilities hit, adhering to a policy of wartime secrecy aimed at preventing Russia from using the information for further airstrikes.
The attack resulted in injuries to at least three people, including a woman and a man with multiple limb injuries and shrapnel wounds in the Kyiv region, and an 8-year-old child in the Kirovohrad region. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported that 350 rescuers were working to minimize the damage caused to energy facilities, homes, public transport vehicles, cars, and a fire station.
The latest strike is part of a wave of attacks on Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure that began in March. These attacks have already forced authorities to impose rolling blackouts in several regions, and their full impact is expected to be felt later in the year when energy consumption peaks during the summer and winter months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the nation on Telegram, drawing parallels between the current Russian invasion and the victory over Nazism in World War II, which Ukraine commemorates on this day. "The world slept through the revival of Nazism - at 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022. And today, everyone who remembers the Second World War and lived to this day feels deja vu," he said.
The grid operator Ukrenergo reported damage to equipment at one of its facilities in central Ukraine, while governors of the Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions separately confirmed that critical civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged, without providing further details.
In Kyiv, all missiles targeting the capital were destroyed, according to Serhiy Popko, head of the city's military administration. He added that there was no major damage or injuries as a result of the attack in the city.
The five-month delay in the approval of $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine by the U.S. Congress may have contributed to the challenges faced by Ukrainian troops on key frontlines, particularly in the east. Russian forces have taken advantage of the "artillery drought" hampering Ukraine's defenses since December to push forward near Avdiivka, making the largest advance since the early months of the war.
