All thermal and hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine were damaged after the Russian attacks

The government of Volodimir Zelensky denounced that the Kremlin troops carried out eight waves of bombardments against the generating facilities. The Ministry of Energy received orders from the Presidency to determine supply priorities

All Ukrainian thermal and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged in eight waves of Russian missile attacks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal reported Sunday, warning of “important restrictions” for this winter.

In a message on Facebook collected by the Ukrinform agency, the Ukrainian prime minister stressed that “Ukraine’s energy system suffers from a significant energy deficit” and specified that “after eight waves of missile attacks, all thermal and hydroelectric plants in the country have been damaged, 40% of the high voltage network installations have suffered damage to a greater or lesser degree”.

“We must all be aware that this winter we are going to suffer significant restrictions in electricity consumption,” he warned.

He added that the government has instructed the energy ministry to determine and consider clear priorities for electricity supply.

In this sense, he specified that the first priority is critical infrastructures and hospitals; the second, the companies and facilities of the military-industrial complex; the third, the companies that manufacture goods and products of critical importance for the country, and the fourth, the housing sector.

The return of electricity

Electricity is gradually returning to Odessa after more than 1.5 million people were left without power due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure facilities, the regional military administration said.

”Little by little, over a short period of time, electricity returns to consumers. Communications and the internet are also coming back,” said Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration, in statements to television collected by the Ukrinform agency.

He added that “the operational situation in the Odessa region remains difficult” and assured that the engineers “work tirelessly, as does the operational command of the regional military administration.

He specified that 206 emergency brigades are working in all affected areas to return electricity, communications and internet to consumers.

He indicated that the most affected area is the city of Odessa and the surrounding districts, while in the rest of the region it was possible to avoid serious damage.

At the same time, despite the shelling, the water supply and sewerage both in the center and in the region have not stopped working.

”Our hospitals and maternity wards, as well as our critical infrastructure facilities are fully operational. Urban electric transport does not work due to the heavy load on the network. We are getting out of the situation thanks to collective taxis and buses, ”he indicated.

The DTEK energy consortium had reported on Saturday morning that all subscribers in the city of Odessa, except for critical infrastructure, had been cut off from electricity due to Russian attacks at night on energy facilities.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky alluded on Saturday to the “acute shortage” of power in several regions due to Russian attacks, especially Odessa, where more than 1.5 million people are without power.