State of emergency in Donetsk: Ukrainian drone attacks cause power outage!

State of emergency in Donetsk: Ukrainian drone attacks cause power outage!

A regional state of emergency was declared today in the occupied part of the Donetsk region after Ukrainian drone attacks on two thermal power plants led to massive power outages. This reports Radio Gütersloh. The head of the Moscow-appointed administration, Denis Pushilin, announced the decree documenting the difficult situation in the region. According to official figures, around 65 percent of consumers are currently without power, at a time when night temperatures in eastern Ukraine are falling to single digits.

The attacks on the thermal power plants near Starobeschewe and Suhres took place on Tuesday night, which only exacerbated the already tense situation in the region. Schools and kindergartens are only allowed to open if the district heating supply is guaranteed. However, energy and water supplies are severely affected in many areas, and the people of Donetsk live in constant uncertainty due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.

Energy war escalates

The situation is further complicated by the ongoing energy war between Ukraine and Russian-controlled territories. On November 16, another widespread power outage occurred following a possible hit on the Chaikyne substation in Donetsk. There were also reports of supply interruptions in other parts of the city. On the night of November 17, media reported attacks by combat drones in the Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, hitting civilian ships and port facilities and injuring at least one person. Informed about this Mercury.

What is particularly worrying is that strategically important energy facilities are repeatedly the target of attacks, as failures can massively disrupt military processes on both sides. There have reportedly been repeated damages to energy networks in recent weeks, both at Ukrainian and Russian facilities.

Relentless conflict

Ukraine has been fighting the Russian invasion for over three and a half years and the situation remains tense. As the Russian military continues to attack Ukrainian energy facilities, Ukraine is struggling with immediate restrictions on electricity and heat supplies in several cities. This also leads to disruptions in public transport, as numerous interventions are recorded on power lines and substations.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported an above-average attack by Russia on October 10, which was intended to significantly damage energy supplies for the late fall and winter. There are almost daily reports of damage to energy infrastructure, forcing authorities to delay the heating season and introduce scheduled power cuts. An additional setback recently came in the form of an attack on the Rosneft refinery in Ryazan, Russia, the exact impact of which is still unclear The time reported.