Fresh Russian strikes leave Ukraine’s energy system under extreme stress

Ukraine’s energy situation deteriorated “significantly” on January 23 following a fresh wave of Russian air attacks, forcing grid operators to impose emergency power outages across most regions of the country, Ukraine’s electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo said.

The assessment came a day after Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal warned that Ukraine’s power system had endured its most difficult day since November 2022, when Russia launched large-scale strikes that caused a nationwide blackout early in the war.

Russia has intensified its aerial campaign in recent weeks, inflicting further damage on already weakened energy infrastructure and leaving large numbers of Ukrainians without electricity and heating during a period of subzero temperatures.

Ukrenergo said several power generation facilities were undergoing emergency repairs following combined drone and missile attacks. In a statement posted on Telegram, the company said that “the equipment is operating at the limits of its capabilities,” adding that power blocks were carrying a “tremendous” overload due to damage sustained in earlier Russian strikes.

The worsening energy crisis has also heightened humanitarian concerns. Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Maxim Timchenko, chief executive officer of Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the situation was “close to a humanitarian catastrophe.” He added that any future peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow must include a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are meeting in Abu Dhabi on Friday and Saturday for trilateral talks brokered by the United States, aimed at advancing efforts to end the nearly four-year-old war.

Meanwhile, the European Commission said on Friday that it would send 447 emergency generators worth 3.7 million euros ($4.3 million) to Ukraine to help restore power at hospitals, shelters, and other critical facilities. The move followed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s declaration of an energy emergency last week.

Ukrenergo said it hopes that repair work can be completed “in the near future,” which would allow the country to return to planned power outages instead of emergency shutdowns.

Ukraine’s energy grid now relies almost entirely on electricity generated by nuclear power plants and has already lost around half of its total generating capacity due to the sustained Russian attacks.

By Tamilla Hasanova