Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Svitlana Grynchuk spoke on the national telethon United News about the current state of the energy system following another massive Russian strike.
According to her, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure became the target of a large-scale ballistic missile attack.
“Last night was one of the most difficult since the start of the full-scale war. The enemy carried out a massive strike using ballistic missiles, which are extremely difficult to intercept. It is hard to recall such a number of direct hits on energy facilities since the beginning of the invasion,” the Minister emphasized.
She noted that due to extensive damage, the transmission system operator was forced to introduce emergency and special power outage schedules in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions. Later, the system’s operation was partially stabilized, allowing a transition to scheduled hourly outages in the affected regions.
“In the most affected areas — Kharkiv, Poltava, and Kyiv regions — together with deputy ministers and local authorities, we are coordinating the deployment of alternative power sources and small modular boiler houses,” Svitlana Grynchuk noted.
The Minister stressed that the introduction of outage schedules is a necessary and temporary measure to enable repairs, equipment restart, and system stabilization.
She also reported that restoration works are complicated by ongoing air raids and the risk of repeated attacks, forcing temporary suspension of repair crews for safety reasons. Despite this, energy workers, rescuers, and all involved services resume operations as soon as the situation allows.
Svitlana Grynchuk added that backup equipment is available in sufficient quantities to replace the damaged units. Installation and switching require time and precision, but all teams are acting as quickly and in close coordination as possible to restore light and heat to Ukrainian homes.
