“As a result of today’s massive attack, our entire generation capacity was destroyed,” the company announced in a statement.
Dtek, Ukraine’s largest private electricity firm, had lost 80 per cent of its generation capacity after strikes between March 22 and 29.
The strikes also targeted two underground natural gas storage facilities, some of which are owned by foreign companies, energy firm Naftogaz said.
Analysts have warned that if the Russian strikes are allowed to continue, Ukraine will soon no longer have the ability to generate energy ahead of next winter.
James Rushton, a Kyiv-based security analyst, said the attacks were “clearly opportunistic – exploiting dwindling numbers of air defence missiles in the Ukrainian inventory”.
“The problem is if they keep going like this, Ukraine will have little to no power generation capability by winter,” he added.
Sergej Sumlenny, founder of the European Resilience Initiative Centre, said: “Coal and gas power stations are vital for balancing the demand-and-supply problem in a large network, as they can increase and decrease production.
“Ukraine’s nuclear power plants cannot work without this balancing.”
He added: “Coal and gas plants also supply heat for larger cities, this will be another huge problem in just six months.”
Call for more air defence batteries
In the wake of the attacks, national energy operator Ukrenergo, called on Ukrainians to limit the use of electrical appliances between 7pm and 10pm, when it predicted shortages of power because generation from solar plants, which are carrying much of the burden, would decrease.
The massive bombardment on Ukrainian energy facilities came amid escalating warnings that Ukraine could soon run out of air defence interceptor missiles.
The shortages are largely blamed on the United States’ stalled $60 billion military aid package, which is being held up in Congress by allies of former president Donald Trump.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said Russia’s overnight barrage used six ballistic missiles, which reach their targets in minutes and are much harder to shoot down.
He has been pushing for delivery of extra US-made Patriot air defence batteries to Ukraine in recent weeks.
Mr Zelensky has previously said Ukraine needs 26 to create a total air shield over Ukraine, but Mr Kuleba is focused on securing seven as quickly as possible to protect the country’s largest cities and have one free for front-line duties.
“Ukraine remains the only country in the world facing ballistic strikes. There is currently no other place for Patriots to be,” Mr Kuleba wrote on social media.
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