Russian strikes smash Ukraine power supply

Barrage of more than 80 missiles is heavy blow to country’s energy network as air defence falters

A HULKING Soviet-era power plant on the outskirts of Kyiv was completely destroyed by a Russian hypersonic missile in a large-scale attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Officials said power facilities were hit in five regions across the war-torn country after Moscow unleashed a barrage of more than 80 missiles and drones in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The attacks, which hammered thermal and hydroelectric power plants, have raised fears over the resilience of Ukraine’s air defences, as well as its ability to generate enough energy.

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday the air strikes were part of the Kremlin’s “demilitarisation” of its neighbour.

“We assume that in this way we have an influence on the Ukrainian military-industrial complex,” he added.

Footage shared on social media appeared to show a thick plume of black smoke in the skies as a fire raged at the Trypilska coal-powered thermal power plant, about 25 miles south of Kyiv.

Ukraine’s air force said it managed to intercept just 18 of the 42 incoming cruise and ballistic missiles that were part of the onslaught.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, accused Kyiv’s Western allies of “turning a blind eye” to his country’s needs for more air defence systems. “All of our European neighbours and other partners see Ukraine’s critical need for air defence systems,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader added that if Russia was allowed to continue its longrange strikes without a Western response, “this will amount to a global licence for terror”.

“Everything is destroyed,” Andriy Gota, the head of the supervisory board of Centrenergo, Ukraine’s state-owned energy company, said, confirming the destruction of the Trypilska plant.

Mr Gota confirmed the missile strike had caused a massive fire in the plant’s turbine hall.

“A large-scale fire [broke out] in the turbine shop,” he said. “The scale of destruction is terrible.

“All employees who were on shift during the shelling are alive,” he added.

The plant, a major power supplier for the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regions, was the last to survive of three facilities owned by the company.

The plants have all been destroyed or occupied by Russia since the full-scale invasion more than two years ago, with Centrenergo warning it could no longer generate power.

“As a result of today’s massive attack, our entire generation capacity was destroyed,” the company announced in a statement.

Dtek, Ukraine’s largest private electricity firm, had lost 80 per cent of its generation capacity after recent strikes between Mar 22 and MAR 29.

The strikes also targeted two underground natural gas storage facilities, some of which are owned by foreign companies, energy firm Naftogaz said.

Analysts have warned that if the Russian

strikes are allowed to continue, Ukraine will soon no longer have the ability to generate energy ahead of next winter.

James Rushton, a Kyiv-based security analyst, said the attacks were “clearly opportunistic – exploiting dwindling numbers of air defence missiles in the Ukrainian inventory”.

“The problem is if they keep going like this, Ukraine will have little to no power generation capability by winter,” he added.

The massive bombardment on Ukrainian energy facilities came amid warnings that Ukraine could soon run out of air defence interceptor missiles.

The shortages are largely blamed on the US’S stalled $60 billion military aid package, which is being held up in Congress by allies of Donald Trump.