A Russian airstrike on Wednesday night seriously damaged three Ukrainian thermal power plants, their operator, DTEK, said. The company described Wednesday night as extremely difficult for the energy sector. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko previously said that electricity production and transmission facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporozhye, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia regions were attacked.
“Another extremely difficult night for the Ukrainian energy sector. The enemy was shelling three of our thermal power plants. The equipment was seriously damaged. Energy workers are currently working to eliminate the consequences of the attack,” DTEK said on the Telegram network.
According to her, this is already the fifth large-scale attack on her energy facilities in the last month and a half. The company did not specify which power plants were targeted by Russian attacks on Wednesday night, but according to the Russian-language BBC server, based on reports from alerts and social networks, it is likely that one of them is the facility in Dobrotvir. It is the largest power plant in the Lviv region of Western Ukraine.
“The consequences are becoming clear. Energy experts are already working on their removal,” said Halushchenko in a statement published by his ministry. He added that people should conserve electricity.
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The RBK-Ukraine server previously reported, citing local authorities and military officials, that explosions were heard in Kyiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions in the west of the country, as well as in Kharkiv, Poltava and Zaporozhye regions. But it is not clear what caused them or whether the explosions caused any damage.
Various local authorities reported at least six people injured overnight – one in Dnipropetrovsk region, one in Kirovohrad, two in Brovary near Kiev and at least two more in the Ukrainian capital, AFP reported.
According to the newspaper Ukrainska pravda, the alarm was declared in all Ukrainian regions at night. The Ukrainian Air Force said a number of surface-to-air missiles launched by Russia over Ukrainian territory were changing direction.
