After Russia’s extensive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Romania quickly intervened, supplying electricity to the neighboring country. Ukraine’s energy grid also receives support from Poland and Slovakia.
Romania supplies electricity to Ukraine, after Russia’s extensive attack
Ukraine’s national grid operator, Ukrenergo, announced on Friday that, following the largest wave of Russian airstrikes affecting energy facilities, Ukraine’s energy grid is receiving emergency assistance from Romania, Poland and Slovakia, Reuters reports.
More than 1 million people have been left without electricity following these devastating attacks, and regional solidarity is becoming essential to remedy the situation.
In March 2022, the European Union and Ukraine interconnected their power grids, in a swift move that came immediately after the start of Russia’s invasion. This connection allows Ukraine to receive emergency power from Europe should military attacks cause power outages.
Russia, the biggest attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure
On Friday, Russia launched the largest airstrike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the start of the war, hitting a major dam and killing at least five people while leaving more than a million others without power, according to Kiev.
Ukraine, which has long called on its allies to provide more air defenses, said its energy system was receiving emergency power from Poland, Romania and Slovakia as seven of its regions faced blackouts .
The actions by Russia, which threatened to punish Kiev last week for alleged attacks and strikes during the presidential election, recalled the first winter of the invasion, when Moscow repeatedly bombed the Ukrainian power grid.
Russia denies it is deliberately targeting civilians, although the conflict that began with its full-scale invasion in February 2022 has left thousands dead, millions uprooted and Ukrainian cities destroyed. Moscow claims that attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are considered legitimate strikes aimed at weakening the enemy’s military.
Ukraine war. Photo source: Facebook. Volodymyr Zelensky
Russia launched 88 missiles and 63 Shahed drones
State hydroelectric company Ukrhidroenergo said Ukraine’s largest dam, the DniproHES in the southern city of Zaporozhye, suffered damage to hydraulic structures and the dam itself, but said there was no danger of a breach. The company’s director, Ihor Sîrota, noted that both the energy blocks and the dam were affected, with one of the blocks receiving two direct hits.
“There is currently a fire at the station. Emergency services and energy workers are on site dealing with the aftermath of multiple airstrikes,” the company said.
According to the local administration and the general prosecutor’s office, at least five people died in the attacks, two in Khmelnytskyi region (west) and three in Zaporozhye, including at least one at the dam.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched 88 missiles and 63 Shahed drones, of which only 37 and 55 were shot down, respectively. The attacks were concentrated in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions. This represents a weaker than usual ratio of Ukrainian air defenses, possibly reflecting Moscow’s widespread use of ballistic missiles, which are more difficult to intercept, and also the proximity of the targeted regions to Russian-controlled areas.
1.2 million people in at least four regions were left without electricity
According to figures posted by presidential adviser Oleksi Kuleba on Telegram, about 1.2 million people in at least four regions were affected by power outages as a result of the attacks. Of these, approximately 700,000 people were in the eastern Kharkiv region alone.
“The goal is not only to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country’s energy system,” wrote the Minister of Energy, Gherman Galuşchenko, on Facebook.
“Russia has launched the largest combined attack on the Ukrainian energy system since the beginning of the large-scale invasion,” grid operator UkrEnergo said, citing its head, Volodymyr Kudritsky, who reported power outages in seven regions.
In addition, DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said some of its thermal plants were affected by the attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that operations are currently underway to fix power failures in nine regions.
“The world can see as clearly as possible the targets of Russian terrorists: power plants and power lines, a hydroelectric dam, ordinary residential buildings, even a trolleybus,” he said.
Polish transmission grid operator PSE is helping its Ukrainian counterpart by providing 300 megawatts (MW) of power between 0600GMT and 1100GMT, PSE said on Friday.
“Subsequently, the flow will depend on the needs of their system and our ability to help,” said Maciej Wapinski, a PSE spokesman.
The European Union and Ukraine linked, opens a new tab their power grids in March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion began, allowing Ukraine to receive emergency power from Europe if military attacks caused blackouts.
