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- “Due to the challenging situation in the energy system, emergency power outages have been implemented in all regions of Ukraine,” Ukrenergo said
- The rolling power cuts are designed to ration electricity across the country
KYIV: Ukraine imposed nationwide rolling power cuts for the second day running on Thursday, the state grid operator said, as Russia intensifies its attacks on the country’s energy network and temperatures drop.
Russian forces struck gas facilities in eastern Ukraine early Thursday, sparking major disruption to the network in Moscow’s latest large-scale bombardment.
The Russian army has attacked Ukrainian power infrastructure each winter since invading in 2022, forcing Kyiv to impose emergency power cuts and import energy from abroad.
AFP reporters in the northeastern Kharkiv region were in a shop that had been plunged into darkness, as a cashier took payments and operated the till by generator power.
“Due to the challenging situation in the energy system, emergency power outages have been implemented in all regions of Ukraine,” national electricity operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.
The rolling power cuts are designed to ration electricity across the country, with officials urging the population to limit consumption.
Russia’s army said Thursday it had launched a “massive” strike using ballistic missiles and drones against Ukrainian gas sites.
The CEO of Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz, Sergii Koretskyi, said there had been “hits and destruction in several regions at once. The operation of a number of critically important facilities has been halted.”
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 320 drones and 37 missiles, adding that 283 drones and five missiles were downed.
“This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Media reports earlier suggested that recent Russian strikes had halted around 60 percent of Ukrainian gas production, and attacks on power stations had cut electricity for hundreds of thousands of people.
Kyiv has increasingly responded to Moscow’s aerial attacks with strikes on Russian logistics and refineries.
Ukrainian strikes on the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region left almost 100,000 people without power, Moscow-backed authorities said.
The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for two top Russian army officials over the attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, saying they constituted a “war crime” and had inflicted “excessive” harm to civilians.
Kyiv has been appealing to its allies for more air defense systems to protect critical infrastructure.