"Zero generation": the aftermath of Russia's record ballistic missile strike on Ukraine's energy sector
What damage was caused during the latest attack, and how will this affect Ukraine’s ability to get through the winter?
On the night of 7-8 November, Russia launched one of its most brutal attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure to date. Never before had Ukraine faced such a large number of ballistic missiles in a single attack.
The Russians targeted state-owned and private power plants, high-voltage substations belonging to Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned electricity transmission operator, and oil and gas industry facilities.
The most devastating losses were suffered by Centrenergo, a major state-owned energy company, which lost all its generating capacity. Both of its thermal power plants – Trypillia in Kyiv Oblast and Zmiivska in Kharkiv Oblast – have been completely shut down.
"It's been less than a month since the previous strike, and last night the enemy hit all our generating capacity. The plants are on fire. We have stopped. Energy generation is now at zero," Centrenergo said.
Strikes on substations near nuclear power plants are particularly alarming. The latest attack damaged facilities near the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants.
The following morning, the consequences of the large-scale attack were being felt across the country: electricity shortages, emergency power cuts and prolonged blackouts in cities and villages. Despite the tireless efforts of power engineers, the situation remains critical.
The scale of the attack: hundreds of drones and dozens of ballistic missiles
According to the official figures, on the night of 7-8 November the Russians launched over 450 drones and 45 missiles of various types against Ukraine.
The main targets of the attack were Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Poltava oblasts, although other regions were also affected. A distinctive feature of this latest attack was the large-scale use of ballistic and air-launched ballistic missiles.
"Twenty-five Iskander-M or KN-23 missiles and seven Kinzhal missiles were launched. So 32 of the 45 missiles followed a ballistic trajectory," said Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukrainian Air Force Command.
Ukraine's air defence forces shot down over 400 Shahed-type kamikaze drones, but most of the missiles reached their targets.
"Last night [7-8 November] was one of the most difficult since the start of the full-scale war," Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said. "The enemy carried out a large-scale strike with ballistic missiles, which are extremely difficult to intercept."
The extent of the damage is such that the electricity supply situation is still particularly difficult in Kharkiv, Poltava and Sumy oblasts.
Nuclear energy in the crosshairs
This wasn't the first time Russian missiles had targeted substations powering Ukrainian nuclear plants. This time, it was the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants that were affected – information that was officially confirmed on the evening of 8 November by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
"These were not accidental but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately endangering nuclear safety in Europe," he stated.
Read more: Record blackout at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant: is there a risk of nuclear disaster?
Following the attack, Ukraine appealed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), demanding an urgent meeting of its Board of Governors, and urged China, India and other countries to pressure the Russian Federation to stop attacking nuclear infrastructure.
Government sources told Ekonomichna Pravda that the strikes on substations have made it difficult to distribute electricity from the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants, forcing their reactors to partially reduce output.
"We have stopped. Zero generation"
But hardest hit by the night of 7-8 November was Centrenergo.
The company lost all of its power generation capacity. Russian missiles destroyed both of its thermal power plants – Zmiivska in Kharkiv Oblast and Trypillia in Kyiv Oblast.
In an emotional statement, Centrenergo said: "An unprecedented number of missiles and an innumerable number of drones targeted the very same thermal power plants that had been rebuilt after the devastating attack in 2024. The plants are on fire. We have stopped. Energy generation is now at zero. Zero!"
Before the full-scale war, Centrenergo owned three thermal power plants. The third, the Vuhlehirsk plant, has been under Russian occupation since 2022. Following the latest attack, the company has effectively lost its ability to generate electricity.
"We've lost everything that we'd been repairing around the clock. Completely," Centrenergo said on Facebook.
According to Ekonomichna Pravda sources in political circles, Centrenergo's rather emotional (but essentially accurate) "All is lost"-style post caused quite a stir in the President's Office, leading to a rather undiplomatic exchange between the company's management and the president's representatives.
"They called from the [President's] Office and started asking brusquely why we were spreading panic among the public and handing such 'gifts' to the Russians – sort of like 'Well done them [the Russians] – they've destroyed everything, now all the power stations are down,'" our source said.
After that phone call, the post was rewritten. The new version felt more like the Energy Ministry's usual communication style: "Repair work is underway following the overnight attack. Repair crews are doing everything possible and necessary to deal with the aftermath of the attack as quickly as possible. We'll do all we can to restore what was destroyed as soon as possible!"
In addition to the facilities mentioned above, Ekonomichna Pravda reported that the Prydniprovska Thermal Power Plant – which belongs to DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, owned by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov – also came under fire that night and sustained serious damage.
As usual, the Russians also attacked Ukrenergo and Oblenergo facilities, which are responsible for transmitting and distributing electricity.
Hydropower facilities were hit as well. There were reports of missile and drone strikes on the Kremenchuk Hydroelectric Power Plant in Svitlovodsk, Kirovohrad Oblast. The Kremenchuk hromada itself felt the consequences of the attack. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]
Volodymyr Kohut, Head of Poltava Oblast Military Administration, reported: "There is no electricity or water supply in the Kremenchuk hromada, and in some places no heating. Water deliveries will be organised shortly. Electric-powered public transport is not operating in the city, so additional buses have been put on routes. Invincibility centres are being deployed." [An invincibility centre is a heated premises stocked with food and power banks to assist residents facing hardships due to power cuts – ed.]
Strikes on oil and gas facilities
Government sources told Ekonomichna Pravda that Russia also targeted facilities in Ukraine's oil and gas sectors on 8 November. Damage was recorded at Ukrgazvydobuvannia, Ukrnafta and Smart Energy. A worker was killed at one company in Kharkiv Oblast.
"They [the Russians] struck oil and gas facilities using ballistic missiles and drones. The damage is significant," a government official said, without giving further details.
For Naftogaz, Ukraine's national oil and gas company, it was the ninth targeted strike on gas infrastructure since early October. CEO Serhii Koretskyi said engineers were gradually stabilising the system, but it would take time.
A long winter ahead
So Ukrainians need to prepare for more power cuts. A representative of one state-owned company said: "The freezing cold weather hasn't even started yet and we're already short of generation capacity. It's only going to get harder. If we can get through the winter with only two queues of scheduled blackouts, it'll be a huge success." [Ukrenergo defines a "queue" as a group of consumers and businesses using a specific amount of megawatts. The Dispatch Centre sets the number of queues needed across oblasts to address energy deficits. Critical infrastructure and industrial companies that import over 80% of their energy cannot be disconnected, according to a Ukrainian Cabinet resolution – ed.]
One government official estimates that the latest attack has cost Ukraine's energy system at least one gigawatt of generation capacity. "Some power is already back, and more will be restored soon, but I'm afraid part of the capacity can't be recovered quickly," the source added.
The Ministry of Energy has confirmed that there is no question of cancelling rolling blackout schedules in the near future. Energy workers are operating in emergency mode, but repairing damaged infrastructure takes time. "Even for minor repairs, the equipment has to be switched off, otherwise the system won't restart stably," Hrynychuk explained.
Energy company sources have confirmed to Ekonomichna Pravda that power outages are expected to persist for some time. "Substations that connect nuclear power plants to the grid have been damaged. The Trypillia and Zmiivska thermal power plants have been destroyed. The deficit will persist – generation capacity can't be restored that quickly," one of them said.
"No one can give a precise forecast as to power cuts – everything depends on the intensity and scale of future attacks," another energy company representative explained. "But we can assume that the situation will look like this. After large-scale attacks like the recent one, recovery may take several weeks, during which the country will have 3-4 queues of scheduled outages. Later it could stabilise to two queues, and eventually to one. That's the best-case scenario. But again, it all depends on the attacks."
None of this applies, however, to border and frontline oblasts, where the situation will remain difficult throughout the winter. There, the attacks and blackouts could be constant.
Author: Mykola Topalov, Ekonomichna Pravda
Translation: Anna Kybukevych and Yelyzaveta Khodatska
Editing: Teresa Pearce