Russian strikes cut power to more than 500,000 Ukrainians in six regions, Ukraine’s energy ministry says

Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said that Russian attacks on energy facilities overnight into 23 October left more than 500,000 Ukrainians without electricity, as emergency outages were introduced in Kyiv and several regions. The account is Ukraine’s; no Russian statement on these specific strikes was found in an official source.

What the ministry reported

According to the ministry, energy facilities in the Zhytomyr, Volyn, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions were attacked, with repair work starting wherever the security situation allowed. The state grid operator Ukrenergo listed new outages in eight regions that morning: Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Volyn, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv and Rivne, according to the Ukrainian news agency UNN, which cited the ministry, Ukrenergo and DTEK.

The private energy company DTEK said that one of its thermal power plants was hit in what it called a massive attack, that the plant stopped generating electricity and that its equipment was substantially damaged. DTEK added that its thermal plants have been attacked more than 230 times since the start of the full-scale invasion. The company did not give the plant’s location.

Outage schedules and consumption

The ministry said that, because of grid restrictions caused by the attacks, hourly outage schedules and capacity limits for industry were in force in some regions. Ukrenergo said these would apply to all categories of consumers until the end of the day, and that emergency outages were ordered in Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Ukrenergo reported that electricity consumption at 09:30 on 23 October was 3.6 per cent lower than the day before, which it attributed to the consequences of the attacks, and asked consumers to limit high-powered appliances between 16:00 and 22:00.

Drones and civilian casualties

Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 176 long-range drones overnight, 92 of them jet-powered, and that air defences shot down 140, including 68 jet-powered ones. Drone impacts were recorded at 19 locations and falling debris at 13 more, the Air Force said, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.

Regional authorities cited by the same outlet said that eight civilians were killed and 67 wounded across Ukraine over the past day. In Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported three dead and 46 injured, most of them in an attack on a market in Lozova. These figures come from Ukrainian authorities and were not independently confirmed.

Earlier reporting

The attacks follow a series of strikes on Ukraine’s power system in recent days. Geopolitiki reported on 22 October that the UK told the OSCE about UK tells OSCE that Russia carried out 86 attacks on Ukraine’s energy system since the US ceasefire call, with more than 550,000 left without power, and covered the overnight strike on the capital in Kyiv: One dead and 22 injured, including four children, in Russian ballistic missile strikes on six districts.