Attacks on Ukraine's Energy Infrastructure
Harm to the Civilian Population
SUMMARY
22 MARCH 2024
Between 4:30 and 6:30 a.m. on 22 March 2024, Russian armed forces launched more than 150 weapons at targets including electricity infrastructure across Ukraine. While Ukrainian armed forces intercepted many of the weapons, the attack damaged or destroyed electricity infrastructure in at least nine regions, causing power outages and disrupting heating and water supplies in some areas.
NINE WAVES OF ATTACKS
From March through August 2024, nine such large-scale, complex and coordinated attacks struck critical power generation plants, substations, and electricity transmission systems across Ukraine, causing severe damage and destruction.
These attacks damaged or destroyed electricity facilities in 20 of the 24 regions under Ukrainian control.
In this period, HRMMU recorded 36 attacks on power generation facilities: 25 on thermal power plants (TPPs) and combined heating power plants (CHPPs) in nine regions; seven on hydroelectric plants (HEPPs) in five regions; two on renewable energy facilities in one region; and two on heating plants in two regions.
At least 101 strikes affected power distribution and transmission facilities in 17 regions.
Statements from both Russian and Ukrainian authorities, information from private and government energy companies, open-source videos and photos assessed as credible and reliable, and HRMMU observations during site visits indicate that each wave involved numerous high-precision, high-yield cruise and ballistic missiles, loitering munitions, and reconnaissance drones and targeted multiple electricity facilities across the country in a well-coordinated and synchronized manner.
The munitions were launched simultaneously from multiple locations utilizing land, aerial, and sea-based delivery platforms, requiring high-level planning and coordination of several branches of the Russian armed forces.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Damage to electricity infrastructure facilities
The attacks seriously damaged or destroyed key electricity production plants and transmission facilities. By June 2024, 73% of Ukraine’s thermal power plants (TPPs) and 20 hydroelectric generation units were inoperative due to severe damage.
Immediate electricity, water, heating and hot water outages
The damage caused immediate power outages, lasting multiple days in some areas.
For example, power outages in Kharkiv and Odesa starting from 22 March 2024 disrupted water supply, central heating, public transportation, and telecommunications for two to three days.
In Kharkiv, the air raid alarm system lost power, requiring emergency personnel to physically alert residents about incoming threats.
Country-wide Electricity Deficit
The cumulative effect of the repeated attacks was an increasing electricity deficit.
By May 2024, rolling power cuts were instituted nationwide due to the electricity deficit, as the grid couldn’t meet peak demand.
Some areas, including Kyiv, experienced daily blackouts lasting 12 hours or more, with authorities prioritizing electricity supply to frontline communities by late June.
By July 2024, Ukraine had lost approximately nine gigawatts of production capacity due to the 2024 strikes.
Civilian casualties resulting from strikes
The attacks killed and injured civilians, including workers at the electricity facilities.
REVERBERATING AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS
Beyond the immediate effects, the reverberating effects of the electricity deficit will cause harm to the civilian population in numerous ways.
The harm will continue for months, if not years, as necessary repairs require technically complex equipment that must be custom-ordered, produced, and delivered, which takes time.
The harm is also likely to worsen during the upcoming winter when cold weather and shorter daylight hours increase electricity demand by 20-25 per cent, which will widen the gap between needed and available electricity, causing outages.
The extent to which the civilian population will suffer during the upcoming winter because of the attacks on electricity infrastructure depends on several factors. If new attacks lead to prolonged emergency blackouts, the impact will likely be severe.
Water distribution
Water utilities require electricity to distribute water to homes, businesses, and industry. Residents of high-rise buildings without independent generators lose access to water and sanitation when electricity is cut, as electricity is required for water pumps to distribute water to higher floors. In below-freezing temperatures, the above-ground pipes in these buildings can freeze without water flow, causing structural damage.
Heating
Ukrainian homes are heated through various means, many of which rely on electricity. For example, nearly 95 per cent of Kyiv’s three million residents rely on centralized district heating, which is delivered to consumers in high-rise buildings using electric pumps.
In addition, a significant portion of the heat for centralized district heating comes from power plants that send excess heat from the electricity production to heat nearby households. The 2024 attacks seriously damaged or destroyed several of these plants, sometimes leaving entire towns in need of alternative heating.
Sewage and sanitation management
The operation of the sewage, sanitation and water treatment system depends on electricity. If sewage treatment is disrupted, waste must be pushed away from treatment plants to avoid backup, flooding and major equipment damage. This can lead to sewage backup in streets, or the release of raw sewage into open water such as the Dnipro River.
Public Health
The disruption to electricity and interconnected infrastructure systems affects public health in numerous ways. Hospitals and healthcare clinics rely on electricity for life-saving medical equipment and procedures and cold storage of medication.
Disruption to the water distribution, heating, and sewage and sanitation management systems described above would create serious health risks to the civilian population.
Education
In Ukraine, 1.7 million children attend school online full- or part-time due to safety risks related to the conflict. In July 2024, UNICEF estimated that between 78 and 311 million hours of study were lost per month due to power outages. The cumulative effects of hostilities and lack of electricity are adversely affecting children’s ability to receive quality education.
The Economy
Strikes on energy facilities and the resulting electricity deficit have adversely affected the Ukrainian economy through a reduction in anticipated gross domestic product, consumer and producer inflation, an increase in electricity costs, and losses in business revenues and taxes from energy facilities. The full scope of the economic impact, including on employment, small businesses, and poverty rates, is not yet known.
The Environment
The attacks on power plants and the resulting electricity outages have also caused direct and indirect harm to the natural environment, the full scale of which is yet unclear. Strikes on thermal and combined heating power plants cause major fires that are difficult to extinguish and release persistent and dangerous chemicals into the air. Increased diesel generators used in towns and cities cause local air pollution.
Impact on people in situation of vulnerability
Lack of electricity disproportionately harm groups with specific vulnerabilities, including older persons, persons with disabilities or low mobility, persons or households with lower income, and internally displaced persons. Persons with low or no mobility, as well as older persons, living in multi-story apartment buildings are effectively trapped when power cuts halt elevators. Healthcare and other public services are limited for those with mobility challenges when elevators cannot run on generator power. Since women carry out a larger proportion of care work, they will likely bear greater responsibility for meeting the additional needs of persons in a situation of vulnerability.
Displacement
Deteriorating living conditions drive internal and cross-border displacement. In July, when country-wide blackouts became more frequent, people temporarily leaving Ukraine increasingly cited disrupted access to electricity, water, and heating as one of the main reasons for leaving.
The National Bank of Ukraine has projected that an additional 500,000 people might be displaced in 2024-2025, citing the significant destruction of the Ukrainian energy system as a reason.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
International humanitarian law relies on three main principles for the protection of civilians and civilian objects: distinction, proportionality, and precaution. The Russian armed forces’ attack on electricity infrastructure in Ukraine likely violated all three principles.
To the Russian Federation:
- Immediately cease attacks on the electricity infrastructure critical to the civilian population of Ukraine.
To the Ukrainian authorities:
- Continue emergency mitigation and winter preparedness efforts alongside long-term strategic planning for electricity generation and network stability;
- Sustain attention and assistance to those groups in a situation of vulnerability to the consequences of electricity shortages, including older people, people with disabilities and those internally displaced.
To the international community:
- Support efforts to repair and restore electricity-generating and transmission capacity to meet the short, medium and long-term needs of the population;
- Sustain attention and humanitarian assistance to populations affected by electricity infrastructure attacks, including those internally displaced;
- Support accountability efforts for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including those related to attacks on electricity infrastructure.
Photos: Thermal power plants in Ukraine damaged by attacks in 2024. © HRMMU / Anastasiia Honcharuk
