Russia has attacked certain energy facilities in the Kharkiv region more than 50 times
Russian troops have struck individual energy facilities in the Kharkiv region more than 50 times. Due to these regular attacks, the region’s energy infrastructure remains under constant threat.
“There are facilities that have been attacked more than 50 times. And in some cases, the attacks only stopped after we halted restoration work. In other words, these were targeted actions that destroyed equipment repeatedly,” Kishinsky said.
According to him, the construction of protective structures around these facilities is ongoing in the region, with assistance from the Kharkiv Regional State Administration.
“Experience shows that gabions provide protection against shrapnel. But now, the weapons the Russian Federation is using to strike can penetrate right into the structures. Therefore, work is underway at some substations to build more robust shelters—so-called ‘sarcophagi.’ There have already been hits on such concrete structures, and so far the equipment remains intact,” Kishinsky noted.
Facilities are being restored, in part thanks to humanitarian aid, since we’re talking about expensive equipment—such as circuit breakers and transformers—which can take 6–9 months to manufacture.
“In my opinion, the most difficult part of the restoration is saving damaged equipment—‘repairing’ it. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. In some cases, when the damage to a transformer is minor—such as to the cooling system—it can still be repaired. In all other cases, replacement is necessary,” Kishinsky noted.
Regional power company specialists continue to install transformers provided by Australia. The Kharkiv region has previously received significant assistance from this country.
“Australia provided us with vacuum circuit breakers, which we install on poles to mitigate the consequences and contain the damage. In other words, this switching device divides the line into several sections: not the entire line is shut down, but only the damaged section that was hit by shelling or simply damaged due to weather conditions. In this way, this smart equipment allows the majority of consumers to still have power in the grid,” explained the deputy technical director.
According to him, aid from various international partners has been arriving since 2023.
“Even China supplied transformers—38 of them. We also received equipment from the Red Cross: excavators and drill-crane machines. If we hadn’t been provided with this equipment and machinery, we would have faced significant challenges carrying out repair and restoration work. The aid continues to arrive, and that’s very good. For example, in July, ‘Shahids’ struck the Valkivskyi Regional Electric Network. A tower—also a humanitarian one—was destroyed; two drilling-and-crane rigs were completely burned, as was a passenger car; and a lot of standard crew vehicles—UAZs and flatbed trucks—were damaged. “Losing that much equipment in a single attack is a huge loss,” said Kishinsky.
This was reported to a Ukrinform correspondent by Oleksandr Kishynskyi, deputy technical director for distribution networks at JSC “Kharkivoblenergo.”
The Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka sectors remain the most active, according to the General Staff.
Earlier, Russia launched a ballistic missile strike on a facility in Kryvyi Rih.
As a reminder, Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles.
Prior to that, Russia attacked warehouses and energy infrastructure in the Odesa region.
