Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, said that amid a series of extensive missile and drone attacks by the Russian army over the course of one night, severe and devastating damage had been inflicted on his country's main energy infrastructure, causing 28 secondary electricity substations and sensitive facilities to be completely taken out of service.
The president of Ukraine revealed in a message following an extensive online meeting with military commanders and energy-sector officials that the bombardment had affected a wide area. In the city of Rivne, the main electricity grid was completely damaged, immediately causing power outages throughout the city and its surrounding areas. At the same time, a main substation in Zhytomyr Oblast was disabled, causing a major disruption in services, alongside severe damage to the infrastructure of the oblasts of Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa, as a result of which tens of thousands of citizens were left without electricity.
According to the information, Russia's intense attacks specifically targeted giant transformers and the control rooms of substations, whose function was to reduce high voltage and distribute the electricity generated to cities and military industries. Experts also warn that manufacturing and transporting this type of scarce equipment takes several months, making the restoration and repair of Ukraine's electricity grid in the approach to the winter season highly complex.
Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense said that the bombardment of electricity substations was intended to cut power to those military facilities and industrial plants that directly serve Ukraine's defense sector and armed forces.
