Three years of reporting, funded by our readers — become a member now and help us prepare for 2025.
Goal: 1,000 new members for our birthday. Gift a membership to your friend and help us prepare for what 2025 might bring.
Become a member Gift membership
Skip to content
Edit post

Intelligence: Russia stills wants to destroy Ukraine's energy system

by The Kyiv Independent news desk February 27, 2023 5:17 PM 2 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Russia has not given up on the idea of destroying Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate reported on Feb. 27.

Besides the electricity grid, Moscow wants to wreck the country's fuel and energy complex "to stop the supply of petroleum products," the intelligence directorate wrote.

Russia has repeatedly been targeting energy infrastructure with missile and drone attacks since October, killing dozens of people and severely damaging the country's energy system.

In late February, however, the situation with Ukraine's energy infrastructure became more stable, reported state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo.

In the same report, the intelligence directorate cited its spokesperson Andrii Cherniak who told RBC-Ukraine that Russia was trying to change the tactics of missile attacks on Ukraine.

"Ninety-five percent of Russia's ground troops in one way or another participate in the aggression against Ukraine they have nothing and no one to fight. Therefore, the Russians decided to increase their offensive potential by using aviation," Cherniak added.

Moscow has less than 100 high-precision cruise missiles left, which are most often used in attacks on critical infrastructure — Kalibr, Kh-101, and Kh-555, according to the intelligence directorate and Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

Russia has thousands of other missiles left, according to the report. However, Russia's production volumes are not keeping up with the pace at which it was using the missiles until mid-February, reads the report.

"They can now produce no more than 30-40 rockets per month. Those old missiles they have in service either do not reach the targets due to a malfunction or have a limited radius of attack," added Cherniak.

Russian state arms conglomerate Rostec said on Feb. 19 that it was scaling up the production of Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles for the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine has downed over 1,200 Russian missiles, drones since September
Three years of reporting, funded by our readers.
Millions read the Kyiv Independent, but only one in 10,000 readers makes a financial contribution. Thanks to our community we've been able to keep our reporting free and accessible to everyone. For our third birthday, we're looking for 1,000 new members to help fund our mission and to help us prepare for what 2025 might bring.
Three years. Millions of readers. All thanks to 12,000 supporters.
It’s thanks to readers like you that we can celebrate another birthday this November. We’re looking for another 1,000 members to help fund our mission, keep our journalism accessible for all, and prepare for whatever 2025 might bring. Consider gifting a membership today or help us spread the word.
Help us get 1,000 new members!
Become a member Gift membership
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

3:44 PM

Russian ICBM strike would be 'clear escalation,' EU says.

"While we're assessing the full facts, it's obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Russian President Vladimir Putin," EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said, according to AFP.
1:40 PM

Merkel describes Trump as 'fascinated by Putin' in her memoir.

"(Donald Trump) saw everything from the point of view of a property developer, which is what he was before he came into politics. Every plot of land could only be sold once, and if he didn't get it, someone else would," Angela Merkel says in her memoir.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.