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totem | kherson \ ternopil | ukraine 2023

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country’s energy infrastructure has become one of the main targets. Power plants, substations, thermal stations, and transmission lines were regularly attacked with missiles, kamikaze drones, and airstrikes.

During the cold seasons of 2022–2023, these attacks caused widespread blackouts — forced outages of electricity and heating. As a result, water supply was disrupted, hospitals and residential buildings faced interruptions, and transport and municipal infrastructure suffered.

Ukrainian grid operators tried to introduce planned outage schedules — rolling blackouts — to reduce the strain on the system and distribute the electricity deficit more evenly.

By the end of 2022, a significant portion of Ukraine’s generation capacity, including power and thermal stations, had been damaged or disabled. For example, heating plants, gas boilers, and district heating facilities sustained heavy losses, complicating the supply of heat during winter.

Despite these challenges, Ukraine has shown remarkable resilience. Repairs were carried out even under shelling, parts of the grid and generation capacity were restored, and international aid along with support from neighboring countries helped compensate for the losses. However, the threat of further large-scale disruptions remains, especially during the winter season.