Kiev, Ukraine: The largest power plant in the region is destroyed in a Russian attack

CNN
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Russia Destruction of the largest power plant in Ukraine The Kiev region came under missile attack on Thursday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing the West of “turning a blind eye” to his country's need for more air defences.

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 18 missiles and 39 drones. Russia launched 82 missiles and drones in total, including six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles – none of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

There were no casualties, and the attack did not lead to a power outage in the Ukrainian capital region of Kiev or other areas supplied by Trebylska across the Pacific.

The Trebylska Thermal Power Plant (TPP), the largest supplier of electricity to the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomir regions, was completely destroyed, according to energy company Centernergo. The company lost 100% of power generation across its three plants, all of which were destroyed or occupied by Russia.

“A black day in the history of Centrenergo,” she said in a statement. “The scale of the devastation is horrific. Money cannot estimate it. This is the biggest challenge for us in the company’s history.”

Over the course of more than two years of war, Russia systematically… Targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine In an attempt to break the country's power grid, and with it the spirit of the Ukrainian people, by depriving them of electricity, heat, water and other basic services in often freezing winter temperatures.

Videos on social media showed huge plumes of smoke rising from the Trebilska plant as the fire continued to burn.

The attack on the Trebilska plant follows the recent Russian attack that destroyed the company's plant in the Kharkiv region, Zmiivska TPP, on March 22, according to a Centrenergo statement. Russian forces occupied the company's third plant, Vuhlehirska TPP, in the Donetsk region in July 2022. The total design capacity of the three power plants was 7,690 megawatts, according to the company's website.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest electricity company, also said that Russia on Thursday launched missile and drone attacks on two power plants it owns, causing “severe damage.”

The company, which generates 20% of Ukraine's energy, said that in the past three weeks it had been subjected to the worst attacks since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. It added that nearly 80% of the power generation facilities it operates had been destroyed. With Russian strikes.

“All of our European neighbors and other partners see Ukraine’s dire need for air defense systems,” Zelensky said on Thursday. He said that if Russia was allowed to continue striking its energy infrastructure, this “would amount to a global license for terrorism.”

“We need air defense systems and other defense assistance, not just turning a blind eye and having lengthy discussions,” he said.

Despite the devastation, Andrei Gutta, head of Centrenergo's supervisory board, said, “I am convinced that we will overcome it.”

Ukraine has previously suffered significant energy losses. The biggest loss came shortly after the invasion, when Russian forces took control of the region Zaporozhye The nuclear power plant – the largest in Europe – previously accounted for about 20% of the country's power generation. Since then, Ukrainian employees have put the plant's reactors on “cold shutdown” to prevent a major radiation accident.