KHARKIV, UKRAINE, March 30 – The electricity crisis in Kharkiv is still ongoing, and restoration work is underway. Today, Ukrenergo’s dispatch center imposed restrictions in the Kharkiv Oblast, said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of the National Energy Company Ukrenergo.

“[Blackouts] are less widespread than yesterday, but they are still happening. There are also some restrictions on power supply to industry in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, in particular in Kryvyi Rih power hub. In Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions, there are no restrictions today,” commented Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, on the air of the telethon “United News”.

The company urged to use information on the state of the power system, including possible blackouts, exclusively from official sources in Ukrenergo, the Ministry of Energy, and local regional power companies.

Restoration of power supply in Kharkiv

According to Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, the power company can fully restore regular power supply to the city within 7–10 days, possibly up to two weeks. He did not give exact figures on the damage to Kharkiv’s power system but said it could be estimated at hundreds of millions of euros.

This is one of the largest attacks on the city’s and the region’s power grid since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today, Kharkiv is gradually restoring its power supply – the subway has started working, and Kharkiv residents have electricity in their flats on schedule.

ISW: By striking at the energy sector, Russia probably wants to undermine Ukraine’s defense industry. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that these strikes may be an attempt to undermine Ukraine’s defense industry and use Ukraine’s lack of air defense missiles to destroy the power grid.

They noted that Russian troops failed to destroy the Ukrainian power grid on March 22, but may aim to continue intense attacks on energy infrastructure in the next series of strikes.

On the night of March 21-22, 2024, Russia carried out large-scale combined missile and drone strikes against critical energy infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine.

According to official data, the enemy fired 151 missiles and drones, including Iranian-made Shahed drones, Iskander missiles, X-101/X-55, X-22, X-47 Kinzhal, X-59 cruise missiles, and S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft missiles.

The Ministry of Energy estimates the damage to the Kharkiv region’s power grid due to the missile attack in billions.

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