The head of Ukraine’s electric company was fired on Monday, the utility said, amid allegations of political meddling and just a week after a major Russian aerial attack on the power grid caused blackouts in Kyiv and other cities.

Volodymyr Kudrytsky — who was appointed to head Ukrenergo in 2020, before the full-scale Russian invasion — was removed as CEO after a vote from the supervisory board on Monday, according to a statement the board released Tuesday.

Several Ukrainian media outlets including Ukrainska Pravda, Forbes and Censor.net, citing government sources, said Mr. Kudrytsky had been blamed for failing to complete defensive fortifications at power plants before Russia’s Aug. 26 strike — the largest targeting energy infrastructure since the 2022 invasion.

Mr. Kudrytsky in a Facebook post on Tuesday denied that he had been fired for failing to protect the infrastructure, and said he had been the victim of a smear campaign by unidentified people.

The firing has ignited a potentially significant political fight over the country’s energy sector, which has been one of Russia’s main targets over the last few years as it attempts to undermine the Ukrainian economy and domestic support for the war.

Two members of Ukrenergo’s supervisory board, Daniel Dobbeni and Peder Andreasen, said in statements that they had resigned in protest over the firing, calling the decision “politically motivated.”