‘Massive’ Russian missile attack destroys two Ukrainian power plants

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A large Russian missile and drone attack that overwhelmed Ukrainian air defences overnight destroyed two power plants, causing energy outages in several cities and the closure of a border crossing.

Energy company Centrenergo, which operates the Zmiivska and Trypilska thermal power plants in the Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, said on Saturday that it had suffered the “most massive strike on our plants since the beginning of the war”.

“The power plants are on fire . . . currently, power generation is down to zero,” the company said.

Russia launched 45 ballistic and cruise missiles as well as 458 drones targeting energy infrastructure in five regions, Ukrainian officials said.

The country’s air defence system shot down 406 drones but only nine missiles. Upgrades to Russia’s ballistic missiles and the limited number of sophisticated missiles defence systems in Ukraine’s arsenal have led to plunging interception rates.

“Only a few systems in the world are capable of intercepting such missiles effectively — and to protect our entire territory, we need far more of these systems and the missiles for them,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.

An Iranian-designed Shahed drone hit a high-rise building in the city of Dnipro, killing at least three people and injuring 11.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said one of its thermal power plants had been hit in the assault. Widespread power outages followed the night of strikes in Kharkiv, some 40km from the Russian border, as well as in the city of Kremenchuk, which lost light, water as well as heating, and Chernihiv.

Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service also said that a power outage caused by the barrage had shut down a customs registration database and forced officials to halt traffic across the border for several hours.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said repair work was being carried across all regions that were hit.

Missiles and drones have pounded Ukrainian power plants and substations recently as part of a Russian campaign that Kyiv said was aimed at plunging Ukraine into the dark.

“Based on the intensity of attacks for the past two months, it is clear Russia is aiming for the complete destruction of Ukraine’s energy system” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko said this month.

The Zmiivska and Trypilska thermal power plants hit overnight had also sustained damage in missile strikes in the spring of 2024.

“We lost what we had been rebuilding around the clock. Completely!” Centrenergo said.