Zelensky: Russia targets Kaniv, Dnister hydroelectric power plants overnight

Russian troops attacked the Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant in Cherkasy Oblast and the Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant in Chernivtsi Oblast during an attack on March 29, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

An overnight large-scale Russian strike targeted energy and civilian infrastructure in 10 of Ukraine's regions, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least six people, including a child, were injured in the attack, he said.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said that three of its power plants were struck and seriously damaged, without disclosing where the impacted power plants were located. Ukraine shot down 84 out of the 99 Shahed-type drones and missiles overnight, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported.

The two hydroelectric power plants were "deliberate targets" of Russian forces, Zelensky wrote on Telegram. He said that Moscow "wants to repeat" the Kherson Oblast disaster, referring to the Kakhovka dam destruction in June 2023.

"But now not only Ukraine, but also Moldova, is under threat. The water will not stop before the border pillars, just as the Russian war will not stop if we do not stop it in Ukraine together in time," the president said.

The Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant is located a few kilometers from the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. Monitoring Telegram channels claimed that a Russian missile allegedly entered Moldovan airspace during the attack. Kyiv could not confirm this information, Illia Yevlash, the Air Force's spokesperson, said on national television.

On March 22, Russian missiles hit the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ukraine's largest hydroelectric station, during the biggest attack on the country's energy infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

In Romania, which borders with three regions in the west of Ukraine and Odesa Oblast in the south, the alleged fragments of a drone near the Ukrainian border were found, the country's Defense Ministry said on March 29.

The Hydroelectric Power Station-2 (HPS-2), one of the two stations of Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, is in critical condition following the attack. The dam itself suffered damage as well, but officials said that there was no risk of a breach.

Russia aims to knock out Ukraine’s power grid in new wave of attacks

Editor’s note: The article was updated on March 27 with comments from Roman Nitsovych, a research director at DiXi Group. Russia launched a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks against Ukraine between March 21-25, hitting the country’s critical infrastructure heavier than ever before. Some 190…

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek