Russia struck about 70 major energy facilities across Ukraine during attacks last fall and winter, the head of Ukraine’s national power grid operator said in an interview with Voice of America.
“If we count large ones, then it’s about, I think, 70,” Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of Ukrenergo, said. Along with hundreds or thousands of smaller power substations damaged, overall nearly half the country’s energy system has been hit, he said.
“It was a global campaign and the scale of damage was global,” Kudrytskyi told VOA. He confirmed that every major power plant in Ukraine, including all hydroelectric and thermal stations in government-held territory, suffered serious damage from Russian missile, drone and artillery strikes.
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“No country in the world has faced this kind of attacks, these kinds of threats,” he said, adding that Ukrenergo had to devise solutions “on the fly.”
Kudrytskyi predicted Ukraine may be able to avoid nationwide blackouts this winter, barring new large-scale Russian attacks. But he said the country will still need electricity imports from Europe to back up its grid.
Ukraine managed to avert a total grid collapse after early attacks thanks to emergency repairs and adaptable operations, despite widespread expectations of energy system failure, he told VOA.
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