Not just strikes: the Kremlin is waging a systematic war against the Ukrainian energy sector

Russia has revised its tactics for shelling Ukrainian energy infrastructure and is now not trying to destroy the system all at once, but rather to gradually disable it.

This was announced by Vitaliy Zaychenko, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, during his speech at the Kyiv International Economic Forum on Thursday.

“The enemy is adapting. If at the beginning of the full-scale aggression the goal was to simultaneously shut down the entire energy system through massive strikes — sometimes it was more than a hundred missiles in one night — now they have changed their approach. Now we see attempts to systematically destroy energy facilities in order to bring the system to a state where it cannot function at all,” Zaichenko explained.

Despite the power of the initial attacks, Ukraine’s power system held up. “Only once were we one step away from complete collapse. But even then we were able to hold on,” he added.

At the same time, the consequences remain tangible: some regions, in particular Sumy and Chernivtsi regions, are still living according to electricity supply restriction schedules. “This is the result of those devastating blows,” the head of Ukrenergo noted.

According to Zaichenko, attacks from Russia have become regular: every substation of the company is under threat, and enemy drones are trying to destroy the infrastructure every day. “These are not isolated cases – we record shelling every day,” he stressed.

According to Zaichenko, this evolution of approach resembles changes in combat operations. “If initially the goal was to occupy the country, now the enemy is using scorched earth tactics,” he noted.

Despite the constant pressure, Ukrenergo emphasizes that they have the resources to quickly restore damaged infrastructure. “Thanks to the support of European partners, we were able to form a powerful reserve of equipment. We have equipment, crews, and proven algorithms for rapid repair. We are ready for challenges,” Zaichenko concluded.

We would like to remind you that from 16:00 until the end of the day, in all regions of Ukraine, it is possible to introduce capacity limitation schedules for industrial consumers in two shifts . This is due to the high level of electricity consumption and the consequences of Russian shelling of energy infrastructure.

As reported, on Wednesday, October 16, by order of NPC Ukrenergo, emergency shutdown schedules (ESDs) were introduced in the northern regions of Khmelnytskyi region.

By the way, on the night of October 16 , Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure using dozens of missiles and drones. This damaged facilities responsible for gas and heat supply, and injured workers.

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