Russia attacked Ukraine’s electricity systems in five regions with more than 80 missiles and drones in the early hours of Thursday, the 11th of April, officials said, increasing pressure on the shaken power grid as Ukraine’s air defence stocks shrink, reports Reuters.
The strikes damaged facilities from the Lviv region near the Polish border to the northeastern Kharkiv region, where power was cut to 200 000 people, Oleksiy Kuleba said.
Map of the approximate movement of missiles and “Shahed” drones this night pic.twitter.com/dLe3gCaHF1
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 11, 2024
“We need air defence and other support for defence, not a blind eye and long discussions,” president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s air defence forces managed to shoot down 57 of 82 missiles and drones
across the country, Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a statement.
Grid operator Ukrenergo said attacks in the Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv and Kyiv regions damaged the company’s substations and power generation equipment.
Ukraine’s largest private electricity company DTEK, which lost 80% of its power production capacity in the Russian attacks in the 22nd and 29th of March, said the Russian attacks hit two of its power plants, causing serious damage.
The Russian attack destroyed the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant in the Kyiv region, resulting in the complete destruction of Centerenergo’s production facilities, citing the company, the Kyiv Independent reported.
‼️ Trypilska TPP has been completely destroyed by an overnight Russian strike, Interfax-Ukraine reports, citing Centrenergo. pic.twitter.com/nOZM63sG8f
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 11, 2024
The destroyed plant near Kyiv, which is the main electricity supplier for Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regions, is the third and last power plant owned by the state energy company Centerenergo.
Two underground storage facilities where Ukraine stores natural gas, including those belonging to foreign companies, were also targeted, the energy company Naftogaz said. The company said the facilities remain functional.
US Ambassador Bridget Brink said that the ten missiles hit critical infrastructure in the Kharkiv region alone.
“The situation in Ukraine is dire, not a minute should be lost,”
she was quoted as saying.
Ukraine has warned that it could exhaust its air defence reserves if Russia continues its intensive strikes and that it already faces difficult decisions about what to defend.
Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said Russia’s overnight attack used six ballistic missiles, which can hit targets within minutes and are much harder to shoot down. Kyiv argues that this is the reason why it needs the US-made Patriot air defence system.
“Ukraine is still the only country in the world that faces ballistic missile strikes. There is no other place for Patriot to be right now,” Kuleba wrote on X.
Also read: Russian forces launch bloody attacks in southern and northern Ukraine