Russia has targeted regional power facilities to degrade Ukraine’s industry – UK intel

Russian forces targeted industrial sites in Ukraine with air strikes on the morning of March 4. 

Unlike last year, Moscow mainly used kamikaze drones for these attacks, Rubryka reports, citing the UK Ministry of Defense.

Throughout February 2024, Russia conducted a campaign using drones against Ukrainian infrastructure, including power facilities.

Ukrainian air defense forces intercepted some drones, but Russian strikes likely caused damage to Ukrainian power stations and substations. These attacks occurred across Ukraine, damaging regional energy infrastructure, particularly in Donetsk, Dnipro, and western regions up to Lviv.

According to British intelligence, the Russian attacks were likely carried out using a combination of kamikaze drones, surface-to-surface missile systems, and conventional rocket artillery rather than Russian long-range aviation assets, as seen in 2022 and 2023.

"It is likely that Russia has sought to target regional power facilities to degrade industrial activities in Ukraine. Despite these attacks, Ukraine's power network is maintaining stable operations," the UK Ministry of Defense said.

As reported by Rubryka, the Russian army continuously targets energy facilities in areas near the front line,

The Russian attack on the energy infrastructure of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk region on the night of February 3 was one of the most massive attacks on energy infrastructure of the year.

During a Cabinet meeting on March 1, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the second winter in the conditions of a full-scale invasion had ended. Ukraine passed it without any blackouts or schedules for nationwide power cuts.

Ukraine's largest gas and oil producer, "Ukrgazvydobuvannya," discovered a new gas field in the Carpathians with record indicators previously considered depleted.

In November 2024, PJSC "Ukrgazvydobuvannya" put three high-flow wells into operation, providing over 400,000 cubic meters of gas daily. Two of them are new, and the third was restored from the liquidation fund.