Ukraine’s power grid comes under Russian attack

• 1 year, 5 months ago (2022-10-24)
• David Flin

Distribution 107 Europe 1061 Transmission 181

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Over 1.4 million Ukrainian households have lost electricity temporarily following a series of Russian air strikes using cruise missiles and Iranian-made drones, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine’s power utility, Ukrenergo , said that the damage was extensive. Seven out of Ukraine’s 25 regions were targeted, mainly in the south and west of the country, as well as Kyiv. It said that the Russian air force has shifted strikes away from power plants to smaller relay stations and transformer facilities. A spokesman said: “Power generation facilities are quite big objects that are protected by defence systems because there aren’t too many of them. However, there are hundreds of transformers and it’s impossible to cover all of them.”

Ukrenergo has warned that power outages may last from 8-10 hours per day while repairs are carried out.

Russia has also threatened to destroy the Kakhovka dam near Kherson, in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention, which states: “Works and installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population.”