The energy supply situation in Ukraine's southern regions remains complex amid problems caused by Russian attacks. This was reported by Gennadi Ryabtsev, a senior researcher at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, on the air of "Ukrainian Radio."
Redaksiya reports that according to Ryabtsev, all consumers in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions have not yet been fully supplied with electricity, and energy workers are continuing repair efforts. At the same time, he noted that the duration of outages in these regions will be long, as the Odesa region is considered a peripheral area of the unified energy system. Ryabtsev explained that there are a limited number of power transmission lines connecting the region to areas where energy production facilities are concentrated, making rapid restoration of stable energy supply a difficult task.
Ryabtsev also highlighted that Russia's current attacks have two strategic objectives. Firstly, it is an attempt to disrupt the integrity of Ukraine's unified energy system along the Dnipro River, effectively dividing it into two parts. Secondly, it is to disconnect peripheral regions with a limited number of power plants, high energy consumption, and few interregional power transmission lines, particularly the Chernihiv, Odesa, and Donetsk regions, from the system.
According to the expert, the current outages in the Odesa region are not blackouts but controlled outages – emergencies or extraordinary situations, but they occur by order of the dispatcher, and energy workers know what is damaged, where, and what needs to be done. A blackout occurs when everything fails and energy workers cannot restore anything.
According to Ryabtsev, realizing these vulnerabilities, Russian troops are striking substations that ensure the redistribution of electricity within the country, as well as power transmission lines. He noted that it is impossible to protect these lines along their entire length, and their damage, especially when it comes to high-voltage networks, complicates and significantly prolongs the restoration of electricity.
The expert explained that "They (the lines - UNIAN) cannot be protected along their entire length, and therefore, any disruption in the power supply, damage to the line itself, considering that we are talking about a high-voltage line, is difficult, because in case of damage to such lines, it is impossible to quickly restore the power supply by ordinary means."
According to UNIAN, on the night of December 13, Russia attacked the city of Odesa with missiles and drones, resulting in power, water, and heating outages in the city, and the city's electric transport is not operating. According to the "South" Air Command, Russia attacked the region with strike drones, "Iskander-M"/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and Kh-47M2 "Kinzhal" aeroballistic missiles.
Commenting on the possible impact of the situation in the south on other regions of Ukraine, the expert stated that controlled outages in the Odesa region will not affect the operation of the energy system in other regions. He explained that strikes on individual subsystems do not significantly affect the system that maintains its integrity and manageability.
Russian attacks targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure are creating persistent problems with energy supply in the southern region of Ukraine. These attacks are making the restoration of electricity difficult and negatively impacting the lives of the population.