On the night of February 7, the Russian Federation carried out one of the most massive combined strikes this year against Ukraine, with the main target being the energy infrastructure of the western regions. Burshtyn and Dobrotvir thermal power plants, as well as substations and main power transmission lines, were hit. This is reported by BBC News Ukraine.
According to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the enemy struck at generation, networks, and distribution substations. The attack included over 400 drones and about 40 missiles of various types, including Kalibr, X-101, and hypersonic Zircon. Air raid sirens rang out across the country.
Strike on Ukraine's energy sector on February 7: key consequences
Damage was recorded in the Volyn, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Rivne regions. In Rivne, a missile hit a residential building, killing one person and injuring two others. There were also reports of strikes on substations that supply Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants.
The main missile strike was received by the Burshtyn TPP in Ivano-Frankivsk region. Monitoring resources indicate that most of the cruise missiles in the first wave were directed specifically at Burshtyn, which is a key energy supply node in western Ukraine and an important part of the so-called Burshtyn energy island.
In Lviv region, due to the attack on the facility in Dobrotvir, over 600,000 subscribers were left without electricity, and around 6,000 people lost water and heating supply. In Vinnytsia region, drones struck an agricultural college in Ladyzhyn.
RF attack on Western Ukraine: what about electricity and heating
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that substations and overhead lines of 750 kV and 330 kV — the backbone of the country's energy system — were under attack. As a result, nuclear power plants were forced to reduce their capacity.
The energy system is being stabilized through electricity imports and emergency outages. Following the command of Ukrenergo, 4.5–5 rounds of emergency disconnection schedules were implemented, and special regimes are in effect in several regions.
Among the main consequences of the attack:
- damage to the Burshtyn and Dobrotvir TPPs;
- damage to substations and lines of 750 kV and 330 kV;
- mass emergency power outages;
- casualties and injuries among civilians;
- interruptions in water and heating supply.
According to monitoring resources, this was one of the most powerful strikes by the Russian Federation on the energy sector during the entire full-scale war.
It should be noted that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a daily selector meeting, during which he criticized the effectiveness of the Air Forces in combating kamikaze drones. He noted that he considers the work of the Air Forces in some regions of Ukraine unsatisfactory.