Russian missile and drone attacks have destroyed a thermal power plant and all the electrical substations in Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov told national television on March 24.
The mayor said that Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, experiences the most challenging energy situation.
Russia has recently once again intensified its attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, launching over 150 missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure on March 22 in one of the largest attacks against the country's power grid.
The March 22 strike damaged the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ukraine's largest hydroelectric station.
Energy workers are unable to provide a stable power supply across Kharkiv, according to the mayor.
He also said that electricity supply had been restored for approximately 40% of Kharkiv residents. Meanwhile, heating has been restored in 60% of the buildings, and almost all of them have water supply, according to Terekhov.
The city is imposing scheduled power outages.
The mayor also said it's unclear when the power supply will be restored in Kharkiv.
Meanwhile, power supply has also been restored in Odesa following the March 22 attack, DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, reported on March 24.
In a separate Telegram post, DTEK said that power supply had also been restored in Kyiv Oblast following the March 24 attack.
In the early hours of March 24, Russia launched its latest major missile and drone attack across Ukraine, targeting critical infrastructure and leaving thousands without heating.
A number of energy facilities in western Ukraine were damaged during Russia's major overnight strike on March 24, state oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz's CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said.
The attack also damaged an underground gas storage facility, Naftogaz reported on March 24.
Throughout the winter of 2022-2023, Russia launched a series of mass missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure facilities, killing dozens of civilians and causing blackouts nationwide. That winter, Russia severely hit almost half of the country's energy system.
The winter of 2023-2024 spelled yet another wave of massive strikes, but the resulting energy disruptions have not reached the scale of those in late 2022 and early 2023. Russia's attacks this year have for the most part failed to disrupt the country's power grid.
Dmytro Basmat
