Wide Ukraine Electricity Outages As Crews Struggle To Repair Damage From Russian Attacks

This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) . Read the original article. 

Kyiv and many Ukrainian regions faced extensive power cuts and outages as crews struggled to repair infrastructure battered by Russian air attacks.

Power was reduced in most regions for eight to 16 hours on November 9, state energy provider Ukrenergo said, adding that consumption restrictions were scheduled for November 10 as well.

"The reason for the introduction of restrictions is the consequences of massive Russian missile and drone attacks on energy facilities," the company said.

"It is difficult to recall such a [large] number of direct strikes on energy facilities since the beginning of the invasion," Ukrenergo spokeswoman Svitlana Hrynchuk told Ukrainian media.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address that "repair crews are working almost around the clock in most regions."

"Restoration efforts are ongoing, and although the situation is difficult, thousands of people are involved in stabilizing the system and repairing the damage," he added.

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Even before the onset of cold weather across Ukraine, Russia had intensified its campaign to take out the country's power grid, as well as natural gas facilities and pipelines, in an effort to freeze and demoralize Ukrainians.

At least seven people were killed and an unknown number of others wounded in the Russian attacks on November 7, prompting Zelenskyy to again urge Kyiv's allies to punish Russia and pressure President Vladimir Putin.

"Any [further] weakening…only encourages Putin to prolong the war, inflict more damage on our country, our people, and others around the world," he said on November 8.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Russia had targeted substations that provided power to two nuclear facilities.

"These were not accidental, but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately jeopardizing Europe's nuclear safety," he said in a post to X. He called for an urgent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, to respond to the "unacceptable risks."

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi warned of the danger of military strikes on nuclear plant electrical substations.

"I continue to call for maximum military restraint in order to maintain nuclear safety and avoid an accident with serious radiological consequences," he said in a statement.

Grossi also said Ukraine's biggest nuclear facility, in Zaporizhzhya, had regained access to back-up electricity from the grid for the first time in six months. The plant, which is under Russian control, has seen interruptions that have endangered critical plant infrastructure, like pumps that supply cooling water.

Russia Targeting Energy Facilities

Russia launched more than 450 drones and 45 missiles in the November 8 barrage, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it had launched "a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, ground and sea-based weapons" and claimed it targeted weapon production and energy facilities in Ukraine.

Power cuts were also taking place in the Poltava region under a special emergency outage schedule ordered by Ukrenergo, with Kremenchuk -- a city of 200,000 people -- reporting a complete blackout, prompting the opening of temporary public hubs offering heat, power, Internet, water, and basic aid.

In Dnipro, a Russian drone strike hit a nine‑story residential building, with at least three people reported killed. A two-day mourning has been declared.

Russian attacks also cut power to subway stations in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Subways and trams have been fully stopped and water supplies have also been disrupted, he said in a post to Telegram.

Ukraine Hits Back At Sites In Russia

For its part, Ukraine has conducted its own near-nightly drone barrage of Russian energy facilities, a campaign that has sharply reduced Russia's ability to produce gasoline and other refined oil products.

In Russian border regions, like Belgorod and Kursk, Ukraine has hit electricity infrastructure, along with municipal heating plants.

More than 20,000 people were reported without power in several border regions on November 9, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Unconfirmed reports said that the municipal heating plant in Voronezh, about 200 kilometers east of the Russian border, had been hit by Ukrainian drones.

The Defense Ministry reported that more than 40 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight, mostly over the Bryansk region. The Defense Ministry made no mention of the Voronezh region.

Kyiv has urged the United States to supply long‑range Tomahawk missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia but President Donald Trump has repeatedly rebuffed the requests.

Moscow warned Washington against sending Tomahawks, with Putin calling the move a "completely new stage of escalation" in US-Russia relations.

Pressure Heightens Around Pokrovsk

As Ukraine battled with the latest attacks on its energy sector, its forces were also struggling to hold the strategic Donetsk city of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged that the situation in the region is "difficult" but have denied Russian claims that Pokrovsk is surrounded.

The city has become the fiercest area on Ukraine's front line this year, with fighting there resembling some of the bloodiest and longest battles of the war.

Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Hetman told RFE/RL that while the situation is growing difficult, Ukrainian forces still have strongholds prepared west of the city, which would allow them to repel further Russian assaults.

Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

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