Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector will push 500,000 people out of the country
Warning from United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine This was followed by significant destruction of power plants and a worsening energy crisis that affected access to electricity, clean water and heating, while pushing up prices for consumers.
The attacks on the national power grid included a coordinated attack on August 26 that the Mission described in a new report as one of the largest Russian attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion, involving “More than 100 missiles and 100 drones in multiple areas of Ukraine, mainly targeting energy and other infrastructure. Power cuts have been implemented nationwide to stabilize the grid.”
Already have “nine coordinated, long-range, large-scale attacks” on the power system of Ukraine from March 22 to August 31, 2024These damaged or destroyed “numerous electricity generation, transmission and distribution facilities” and harmed civilians and the country’s electricity supply, water distribution, sewage and sanitation systems, heating and hot water systems, public health, education and economy, the report noted.
The report also cited estimates that the latest attacks on energy infrastructure have “damaged more than 10 percent of the population – 3.7 million people at risk of using contaminated drinking water. The risk is increased for infants and young children, the elderly, immunocompromised individuals and those with serious comorbidities,” the report noted.
High voltage electric strike
According to the Mission, since March 2024, Russian attacks have hit facilities in 20 of the 24 regions controlled by Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv. Among them, 36 attacks were recorded on power plants in nine regions and at least 101 confirmed attacks on power distribution and transmission facilities in 17 regions. “Many energy facilities were repeatedly attacked, some completely destroyed,” the report said, noting that it would “take years to fully repair and restore.”
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Ukraine had 44.1 gigawatts of available electricity capacity, through nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as well as renewable energy sources, the report noted, citing data from the National Bank of Ukraine. But By April 2023, Ukraine’s national grid had lost nearly half of its available generating capacity. from occupation and destruction. In addition, 42 of the 95 high-voltage transformers were damaged, disrupting the distribution of electricity to households.
Fear of forced displacement
According to the United Nations refugee agency (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), more than 6.7 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s invasion. About 6.2 million remain in Europe and another 3.6 million remain internally displaced inside Ukraine. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees believes it is “unlikely” that these numbers will drop any time soon.
Border monitoring by UNHCR and partners shows a slight increase in the number of people leaving Ukraine since April this year due to lack of electricity, water and heating. But “That increase then increases significantly” by June 2024 to one in four respondents because power outages are becoming more frequent. By July, nearly half of those contacted at the Ukrainian border said they had to leave because of difficulties accessing electricity, water and heating.
“Most people who depart for energy-related reasons intend to stay abroad temporarily, but without specifying a specific period of time,” UNHCR said.
Education: Millions of classroom hours lost
In addition to the expected exodus of people from Ukraine, the attacks have also had a serious impact on education. In July 2024, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (UNICEF) estimates that between 78 and 311 million hours of instruction are lost each month due to power outages..
After the first attacks in March 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine estimated that the country’s economy would shrink by 0.6 percent. By June 2024, electricity prices would have increased by more than two-thirds. The government estimates that higher electricity costs will add 1.2 percent to consumer inflation and six percent to additional costs for producers.
The UN mission said that given the large number of areas affected by the coordinated attacks, “the high precision of the weapons involved and the large scale of damage caused to civilians and the interconnected civilian systems that provide people with services essential to their health and survival…there are reasonable grounds to believe that many aspects of the military campaign to damage or destroy Ukraine’s civilian electricity and heat production and transmission infrastructure violated fundamental principles of international humanitarian law“ .
