Kyiv: Ukrainian military strikes have caused widespread power outages in Russian-occupied regions of southern Ukraine, including Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to Moscow-installed officials. The attacks left hundreds of thousands of residents without electricity, forcing authorities to implement emergency measures to stabilize the power grid.
Despite the disruption, officials confirmed that operations at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe’s largest nuclear facility — remain unaffected. The plant, under Russian control since the early weeks of the invasion in February 2022, is currently in shutdown mode and not producing power. Radiation levels at the facility are reported to be within normal range, according to Russian officials overseeing the site.
Russia-appointed governors in both regions emphasized the urgency of the situation. In Zaporizhzhia, Governor Yevgeny Balitsky said emergency protocols had been activated following severe damage to high-voltage infrastructure.
“As a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, high-voltage equipment was damaged in the northwestern part of the Zaporizhzhia region,” Belitsky wrote on Telegram.
He added that more than 600,000 people across nearly 500 settlements were without power as of Tuesday morning. The regional energy ministry has been instructed to conserve power resources, and healthcare facilities have switched to backup systems to maintain critical services.
In the neighboring Kherson region, Russia-appointed Governor Vladimir Saldo reported that falling drone debris had damaged two substations. The resulting outage affected over 100,000 people in approximately 150 towns and villages within Russian-occupied areas.
Saldo assured that emergency crews were actively working to restore electricity.
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The strikes occurred just hours after Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in Turkey for peace discussions. Moscow reiterated its position that any resolution to the conflict must include Kyiv’s surrender of additional territory and agreement to military restrictions — demands Ukraine continues to reject.
Ukraine has not issued an immediate statement regarding the recent attacks. Both sides have consistently denied targeting civilians, yet the war has claimed thousands of lives, with the majority of casualties among Ukrainian civilians.
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Throughout the conflict, both Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over attacks near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, raising international concerns over the risk of a nuclear incident.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which maintains permanent monitoring staff at Zaporizhzhia and other nuclear sites in Ukraine, addressed Ukrainian concerns last week. The agency stated it had found no evidence suggesting that Russia was preparing to reactivate the plant or connect it to its national grid.
