On November 9, Ukraine urgently restored power and heating after Russian airstrikes caused electricity output to drop to zero.
National energy company Centerenergo said its power generation capacity has " reached zero" after hundreds of drones and missiles targeted many power plants across Ukraine.
According to Centerenergo, some factories that have been restored after previous attacks continue to be hit. The company described it as an unprecedented number of missiles and drones, with a frequency of multiple missiles per minute. The power outage affects the power supply, water and heating systems of many cities.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine's national power transmission operator, said most of the country will have to cut off power for 8 to 16 hours a day while waiting for repairs and resoregulation of supply.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk called it "one of the most difficult nights since the conflict broke out". She warned that many areas such as Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernigiv and Sumy will continue to have periodic power outages.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of attacking two transformer stations serving the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants. He called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to convene an urgent meeting and urged China and India to put pressure on Russia to stop the attack.
The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 406 of the 458 drones and 9 missiles launched by Russia. However, the scale of the attack still caused serious damage to the energy system. Naftogaz Group said it was the ninth attack on gas infrastructure since early October, while a report from the Kiev Economic School said half of Ukraine's gas production had stopped operating.
Energy expert Oleksandr Kharchenko warned that if Kiev's two power and heating plants stop operating for more than 3 days in temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius, the capital could fall into a "technical disaster". He recommended that cities prepare backup plans to avoid complete paralysis of heating systems.
In the context of suffering great damage, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian warehouses and refineries to cut off Moscow's energy revenue. Russia has extended the ban on gasoline exports until the end of October to control fuel prices after the attacks.
