Russia uses cluster munitions to take out Ukraine’s power

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Russia has used cluster munitions and other highly destructive bombs to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, prompting emergency shutdowns across the country on Thursday.

“Again, the energy industry is under massive enemy attack,” said energy minister Herman Halushchenko, urging people to seek shelter as air raid sirens wailed in Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “about 100 attack drones, more than 90 missiles of various types” had targeted Ukraine’s energy facilities. He said Russia’s use of cluster munitions was reported in several Ukrainian regions.

“The use of these cluster elements significantly complicates the work of our rescuers and power engineers in mitigating the damage, marking yet another vile escalation in Russia’s terrorist tactics,” Zelenskyy said.

This was Russia’s 11th large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy sector this year, authorities said. After several months with normal power supplies, Ukraine reintroduced scheduled blackouts for consumers about 10 days ago, with authorities warning that each attack further increases the likelihood of disruptions as temperatures start to drop below zero.

No emergency shutdown was reported in Kyiv on Thursday, but 11 regional authorities reported damage. The western Ukrainian regions of Volyn, Rivne and Lviv appear to have been most impacted with hundreds of thousands left without electricity and some without water, according to local authorities.

The attacks seem to have homed in on gas plants and substations of larger facilities, as no damage was reported at any thermal, hydroelectric or nuclear power plants. Ukraine’s Naftogaz said on Thursday that its gas-powered facilities in Lviv region had been hit, but the damage had been minor. Ukraine’s energy grid, Ukrenergo, told the Financial Times that several of its substations had been hit.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said that the emergency shutdown measures were taken in the early hours of Thursday to prevent to damage to the system, but that power had been restored a few hours later. No nuclear plants had been shut down, the ministry said.

Ukraine’s largest energy company, DTEK, told the FT no damage had reported at their thermal power plants.

Halushchenko told the FT last month that Russia had used cluster munitions in attacks on substations this autumn to prevent quick repairs, as workers cannot be sent to affected areas until there is no more risk of explosions. Ukraine has stockpiled transformers and can repair damaged substations within a few days, in normal circumstances.

Zelenskyy said that energy workers and emergency services were working to restore power and “normalcy” to affected areas.

Reiterating calls for more western air defences, he said that each Russian attack “underscores the urgent need for advanced air defence systems in Ukraine — systems that save lives rather than sitting idle in storage depots.”

“This is especially critical during the winter months, when protecting our energy infrastructure from Russia’s deliberate strikes is vital,” he added.