Ukraine reported new blackouts of the electricity supply throughout the country during today due to a power shortage caused by Russian strikes that caused heavy damage to the power plants, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
In recent months, Russia has launched a new campaign of massive strikes on Ukraine's heat and hydropower plants, which experts say destroyed half of its power generation capacity in late winter.
„Today, restrictions on electricity consumption are in effect in all areas”, the national energy company “Ukrenergo” said in a statement.
An emergency power outage for three hours had to be implemented last night in 12 regions of Ukraine and in the capital Kyiv, the company added.
„The main reason for the restrictions was the consequences of six enemy missile attacks on Ukrainian power plants”, which suffered significant damage and a drop in production, Ukrenergo explained.
To compensate for its losses, Ukraine is currently importing electricity from several neighboring countries, but “due to the scale of the damage, these measures are not sufficient to balance the system”, the company said.
In Kyiv, where some street lights and traffic lights are off and entire neighborhoods are in the dark, consumption limits set for today cover only 75 percent of electricity needs, municipal authorities said.
After a new series of Russian attacks on the power grid, Ukrainians are left without electricity for a long time every day.
„We are dealing with destruction on an absolutely unprecedented scale, and full recovery of production may take years”, warned the director of “Ukrenergo” Volodymyr Kudrytsky in an interview with Ukrainian media published by his press office.
The capacity of thermal power plants is at a record low and “there are practically no hydroelectric plants that have not suffered”, he stressed.
A nuclear reactor is to be restarted “tonight” after some work, which should allow production to increase and temporarily reduce power outages, Kudrycki said.
However, he warned that further deterioration is expected towards the end of the month due to higher temperatures and increased electricity consumption.
The first wave of Russian strikes, specifically targeting energy facilities, left millions of Ukrainians without electricity, running water and heating at sub-zero temperatures in the winter of 2022-2023, AFP recalls.
The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine rose sharply last month to 174 people - the most in nearly a year amid an increase in rocket and bomb attacks on populated areas around Kharkiv, the UN Human Rights Office said today, quoted by Reuters.
The death toll in May increased by 31 percent from April and was the highest since June 2023, according to data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine