Russia continues to ramp up attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector ahead of the winter season, attempting to leave millions of Ukrainians without light and heat. Since the beginning of autumn, the scale and intensity of airstrikes by the Russian Federation have significantly increased, complicating the operation of the country’s energy system.
This is reported by Finway
Scale and Features of the Autumn Campaign
In October alone, the Russian Federation carried out seven massive attacks using drones and missiles on energy infrastructure facilities. Eastern cities, particularly Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, as well as the capital Kyiv, have suffered particularly severe destruction. Unlike previous periods, this year’s campaign is marked by the involvement of a vast number of drones – swarms of 600-700 drones overload the air defense system and allow targeted strikes on the most critical energy facilities, such as generators and transformers.
Moreover, Russia is attacking not only electricity supply facilities but also natural gas extraction, storage, and distribution systems on such a scale for the first time. This creates additional pressure on the country’s energy security ahead of the cold weather.
Challenges for Protecting Ukraine’s Energy System
One of the main problems for the Ukrainian side is the lack of straightforward solutions to enhance the protection of energy facilities. Air defense, which is necessary to protect power plants, substations, transformers, and gas storage facilities, faces new challenges: air defense missiles are expensive, and swarms of drones equipped with artificial intelligence can bypass electronic warfare systems and attack from various directions.
“Russia has been changing its tactics from the very beginning. Previously, the difference was that the targets were electricity supply facilities. Now, in October, they are effectively attacking everything – electricity, natural gas, fuel depots. We need gas and electricity. They want to ensure that we freeze, pushing people to pressure the government,” said energy expert Andrian Prokip from the Kyiv office of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center.
Another threat has been the increased attempts by Russia to divide the country’s energy system. Massive strikes on eastern regions complicate the physical connection between the eastern and western parts of Ukraine, raising the risk of large-scale power outages.
According to experts, electricity production in Kyiv and west of the capital has suffered less damage, but each new attack complicates the maintenance of stable operation of the nationwide energy system.