Restoring all this, of course, is not even a medium-term issue.
This week, the Russian Armed Forces resumed missile attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. On Friday there was a massive strike, today there was a group strike (one level lower than massive). The main damage was caused on Friday, and the lion's share of it was taken by the Kharkov energy system.
Image: one of the power substations in Kharkov after a missile strike by the Russian Armed Forces on March 22, 2024.
The damage to the Kharkov energy system was colossal: on the first day the city was completely de-energized, and today only about a third of the city is connected to electricity according to the emergency schedule using backup lines. According to the mayor of Kharkov, Igor Terekhov, during Russian missile attacks, the combined heat and power plant (CHP) was destroyed, as well as all city transformer substations.
“Repair crews are working, but the damage is very serious. There is no answer to the question of how long the restoration work will take,” Terekhov said.
Let us note that as part of the new attacks on the energy system of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces are striking directly at electricity generation facilities – the turbine rooms of power plants – and it is unrealistic to restore them, as you understand, without having either the means or industrial capabilities for this, especially in a short time . Most likely, Ukraine’s energy sector will be restored only after the end of hostilities, which are still unclear when they will end, and then only in the territories that will be ceded to Russia. For those who, out of naivety or ignorance of the hardware, believe that generating capacity can be restored relatively quickly, we advise you to remember the restoration of the turbine hall of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, which took more than five years. And this is provided that Russia has the capabilities to restore its energy sector.