The situation in Ukraine’s power system remains challenging following Russia’s latest large-scale attack, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Mykola Kolisnyk reported during the national telethon “United News.”
“Emergency restoration works have been ongoing around the clock since the latest attack. Last night, the enemy launched 45 missiles of various types, including more than 30 ballistic and cluster missiles. This strike was among the most technologically complex. Russia is using intelligence data to target key elements of Ukraine’s power system architecture,” emphasized the Deputy Minister.
Currently, scheduled hourly power outages are being implemented across most regions for all categories of consumers, along with load limitation schedules for industrial and commercial sectors. Up to four outage groups are being applied simultaneously. The most difficult situation persists in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions, due to transmission capacity shortages caused by damage to high-voltage transmission lines.
Electricity restrictions are also in effect in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, and Kyiv regions, as well as in the city of Kyiv.
Kolisnyk noted that operational adjustments to the outage schedules are being made to optimize the system, but achieving stability is impossible without responsible electricity consumption. He also urged businesses to actively use electricity imports as a tool to avoid restrictions.
The Deputy Minister drew particular attention to Russian strikes on substations supplying power to the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne Nuclear Power Plants. “This is not the first targeted attack on critical high-voltage transmission lines. Their damage forces nuclear generation to temporarily reduce output to prevent emergency situations and cascading disconnections within the power system,” Kolisnyk underlined.
He informed that the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine maintains constant communication with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. Ukraine has requested the International Atomic Energy Agency to urgently convene a meeting of the Board of Governors to discuss mechanisms for preventing Russian attacks on critical infrastructure and to strengthen international pressure regarding nuclear and radiation safety issues.
