Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large power plant near Kiev and hit power facilities in several regions on Thursday, adding pressure on the beleaguered energy system as Ukraine's air defenses decline, officials said.
A senior official at the company that runs the facility told Reuters that the major attack, which occurred more than two years after the large-scale Russian invasion, completely destroyed the coal-fired Trebilska thermal plant near the capital.
Unconfirmed footage circulated on social media showed a fire burning in the large Soviet-era facility and black smoke rising from it.
“We need air defense and other defense support, not turning a blind eye and long discussions,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the messaging app Telegram, condemning the attacks as “terrorist.”
Kiev's calls for urgent air defense supplies from the West have become increasingly desperate since Russia renewed its long-range air attacks on the Ukrainian energy system last month.
The attacks, which hit thermal and hydroelectric power plants, raised concerns about the resilience of an energy system that was crippled by a Russian air campaign in the war's first winter.
The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force said that the air defenses shot down 18 missiles and 39 drones. The army said that the attack used a total of 82 missiles and drones.
The demolished power plant outside Kiev, a major energy supplier to the Kiev, Cherkassy and Zhytomir regions, is the third and final facility owned by state-owned energy company Centrenergo.
“Everything has been destroyed,” Andre Gutta, head of the company's supervisory board, said when asked about the situation at Centernergo.
Grid operator Ukrinergo said its substations and power generation facilities were damaged in the attacks on the Odessa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Lviv and Kiev regions.
Ukraine's largest private electricity company DTEK, which lost 80% of its generating capacity during the Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, said the Russian attacks hit two of its power plants, causing severe damage.
Energy company Naftogaz said the strikes also targeted two underground storage facilities where Ukraine stores natural gas, including some owned by foreign companies. She added that the facilities continued to operate.
“The situation in Ukraine is terrible. “There is not a moment to lose,” US Ambassador Bridget Brink said, adding that 10 missiles hit vital infrastructure in the Kharkiv region alone.
The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and is already suffering from prolonged power outages, had to cut power to 200,000 people, said Oleksiy Kuleba, an aide to the president.
Ukraine has warned that it may run out of air defense munitions if Russia continues to intensify its strikes, and that it is already having to make difficult decisions about what to defend.
Ukraine has said there has been a slowdown in vital Western aid, and a major US aid package has been blocked by Republicans in Congress for months.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the attack launched by Russia overnight used six ballistic missiles, which can hit targets within minutes, and are much more difficult to shoot down. Kiev says this is why it needs US-made Patriot air defenses.
Ukraine remains the only country in the world facing ballistic strikes. “There is currently no other place for 'Patriot,'” Kuleba wrote on social media platform X.
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