On the evening of March 18, the Russian army launched an attack on an energy infrastructure facility near Novovolynsk in Volyn. This was reported by the mayor of Novovolynsk, Boris Karpus, who noted that as a result of the shelling, part of the city was left without electricity, and there were also disruptions to the water supply.
This is reported by Finway
Consequences of the Attack and Actions of Local Authorities
According to Karpus, a large fire broke out at the affected energy facility, and relevant services are working promptly to extinguish it. Generators have been activated to support the water supply in the city, and some boiler houses have been switched to minimal operating mode. The local authorities have set up four resilience points to support residents in difficult conditions.
After the air raid alert was announced in the Volyn region, it became known that Shahed-type kamikaze drones struck a critical infrastructure facility. The head of the Volyn Regional State Administration, Roman Romaniuk, reported that over 30,000 subscribers in one of the districts of the region were left without electricity.
“As a result, we have a power outage in one of the districts of the region. Currently, over 30,000 subscribers are without electricity. All relevant services are on-site working to eliminate the consequences,” Romaniuk added.
Continuous Strikes on Ukrainian Energy Sector
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. These strikes have become particularly intense since the fall of 2025. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko noted that materials regarding Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities from July 2025 to February 2026 have already been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The Security Service of Ukraine qualifies these actions as crimes against humanity.
At the same time, the Russian Federation officially denies strikes on civilian infrastructure, instead blaming Ukraine. However, according to information from the UN, as of January 2026, Ukraine has lost over half of its electricity generation capacity due to occupation and shelling. The country currently has only 11 GW of generation, which is significantly less than the required 18 GW during peak winter months, leading to ongoing mass power outages and supply disruptions.