On Thursday, Russia again launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine, including the country’s largest oil refinery in Kremenchug.
This was reported by the Ukrainian authorities.
Following a meeting of NATO defense ministers the previous day to discuss support for Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces had fired 36 missiles; among them are three KH-31 missiles and one Onyx, which Ukrainian air defenses were unable to shoot down. In total, the Ukrainian Air Force shot down about 16 missiles.
“Another massive state missile terrorist attack against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry tweeted.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko and the country’s electricity grid operator said on Thursday that Russian nighttime airstrikes had not caused major power outages.
According to Galushchenko, Ukraine satisfied consumer demand for the fifth day in a row. Grid operator Ukrenergo said it saw no need to introduce emergency power cuts.
“Today’s attack will not change our plans not to carry out power cuts during the day,” Ukrenergo chief Volodymyr Kudrytsky told a briefing.
Galushchenko has repeatedly praised the speed with which repairs were carried out after the Russian airstrikes. According to a Facebook post from Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy, Galushchenko said that “a certain amount of energy has appeared.”
Kudrytsky repeated it, saying: “Time is now on the side of the Ukrainian energy system.”
The energy situation could remain stable, he said, unless Ukraine’s energy infrastructure suffered damage of the same magnitude as last fall, when Russia stepped up its attacks on energy facilities. and caused widespread power outages.
“We have improved the situation, but absolute stability is still a long way off,” Kudritsky said.
