Russian-backed emergency workers restored power to more than 700,000 residents on Tuesday after mass power outages due to Ukrainian bombing and drone strikes the previous day. The power supply has been completely restored, Russia’s Energy Ministry said, with the aid of repair teams sent from other areas.
The attacks hit major infrastructure in occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces, the first such coordinated Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied territory since February 2022 invasion. There has been no official statement from the Ukrainian authorities regarding the operation.
Yevgeny Balitsky, Russia’s appointed Zaporizhzhia governor, said that over 600,000 individuals in almost 500 areas were left without electricity following the shelling of high-voltage lines. In neighboring Kherson, Governor Vladimir Saldo announced that debris from drones caused two substations to be damaged, cutting power to over 100,000 residents in 150 settlements.
In spite of the assaults, the Russian authorities stated the situation in the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is Europe’s largest, is stable, though difficult. The plant, captured by Russian troops in 2022, is now closed and not producing electricity. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has assured that radiation levels are normal, stating that the conditions are not appropriate for the restart of the plant because it lacks cooling water and has an unstable power supply.
At the same time, Russian shelling on northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy killed three civilians and wounded 28, among them children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attack, which hit residential apartments and a hospital.
Neither country targets civilians, but civilian losses largely Ukrainian have piled up since the conflict started.
