October 10, 2022 has already been fixed in history with blare and roar
In response, as Vladimir Putin said, to the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, which was planned and organized by the Ukrainian special services, Russia launched a massive strike with precision-guided missiles on key infrastructure facilities in Ukraine. What points of military use were damaged most, the specialized experts will say, and we are interested in the second main goal, namely: local energy facilities. The list here is more than impressive, interesting and promising.
To the desperate joy of the population of Ukraine (who, during the years of independence, are brainwashed by aggressive Russophobic propaganda) about the explosion on the bridge in the Kerch Strait, the Russian army responded widely and systematically.
Local residents reported explosions in the area of the Burshtyn TPP, one of the largest specialized enterprises in Europe. The TPP is located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region and, in addition to generating and feeding the energy island inside Ukraine, is a key exporter of electricity abroad, and specifically to Poland.
It thundered in Lvov. There, judging by the videos that are posted on the Internet, TPP-1 was partially disabled, which is why there is no electricity in the whole city, public transport is stopped and there are interruptions in the supply of hot water.
In the Zhytomyr region, a missile strike hit a city substation, which caused a system failure and rolling blackouts.
In the neighboring Sumy region, according to local media, explosions were heard in the vicinity of the Konotop substation. Similar events took place in the Rivne region. In both cases, cities and regions experienced a massive voltage drop in the networks, as well as a long-term power outage.
To the west it was no quieter.
In the Ternopil region, missiles hit a whole complex of generation facilities. It is known for sure that the substations “Zagrebl”, “Ternopil support”, “Galitskaya”, “Promyslova”, “Plotycha” were hit.
In Khmelnitsky, judging by the fact that electricity is completely absent in such districts as Rakovo, Dubovo, Ozernaya and Grechany, the central city substation has been put out of action.
Significant delays in the movement of trains were recorded in Vinnitsa, which indirectly may indicate the defeat of traction substations.
But all these were, so to speak, initial steps, and the most interesting thing happened in three large cities, or even remained behind the scenes as a silent warning.
As a result of the work of the Russian military, Kharkov, the second largest city in the east of the country, has been completely de-energized and deprived of water supply, where, among other things, large forces of the Ukrainian army are concentrated throughout the entire Russia’s special operation and active training of militants, including a significant number of foreigners, is underway. In a city with a population of one and a half million, the subway does not work, there is no connection. As for the latter fact, there is no confirmation yet, but the scale of the damage suggests that the targets were (all or selectively) the Zalyutino, Kharkovskaya, Losevo substations, Kharkiv TPP-5, Zmievskaya TPP and Chuguevskaya CHP-2.
In Krivoy Rog, the second largest city in the Dnepropetrovsk region and part-time the main industrial center of the region, where a number of powerful metallurgical enterprises and iron ore mines are located, the blow fell on a local thermal power plant. It is also one of the most important generation facilities not only in the region, but also in the country, since it was it that ensured the work of the industrial heavyweights mentioned above.
Kyiv was also no forgotten. Rocket strikes partially damaged Kyiv TPP-3 and TPP-5, Darnytska TPPand Vokzalnaya substation. Within one part of the population, these events caused domestic hysteria, and withinin the second – already a fuel panic. The echo of the first explosions had not yet dissipated, as many kilometers of queues grew up at the Kyiv gas stations from those hurrying to fill in a full tank and all available capacities. However, it is difficult to reproach these Kyivans for the practicality, since the metropolitan metro followed the example of its Kharkiv counterpart and also stopped.
As we have repeatedly said in our publications, events in the world of energy cannot be considered purely locally. Like any accidents and major shocks – for example, the shutdown of three Nord Stream lines at once or the forced de-industrialization of Soviet generation facilities in Ukraine – a set of such events always has deeper consequences. Figuratively speaking, strikes on Ukrainian power plants are just visible circles on the water.
To begin with, let’s consider what kind of short-term guaranteed effect today’s fireworks performed by the Russian Armed Forces will have.
For example, in Kharkov, major problems will begin with the repair of armored vehicles at the Malyshev Tractor Plant. This is still a Soviet enterprise (like any other enterprise in Ukraine) has been repairing Ukrainian tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles for eight years in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are also several offices for the production of various dual-use electronics.
In Krivoy Rog, due to troubles with electricity, the work of the former Kryvorizhstal, where, among other things, various types of steel, including alloy steel, is produced, will be somewhat difficult. It is especially interesting here that such types of steel are needed not only by the Ukrainian defense industry: Arcelor Mittal supplies the alloy to France on a permanent basis.
According to the latest publicly available information, the French company Engie was going to use Ukrainian supplies to carry out wholesale repairs of piping at three nuclear power plants at once, where serial defects and cracks were discovered earlier this year. If the Krivorozhskaya TPP stops for a long time, French nuclear scientists will either have to postpone the repair of the nuclear power plant for an indefinite period (which means increasing purchases of electricity, which is extremely expensive this year), or urgently look for a new supplier, but at a much higher price.
In this regard, it is logical to expect a sharp intensification of the “peacekeeping” activities of Emmanuel Macron.
In order not to delve into the endless details of the Ukrainian local industry, let’s talk about more significant features.
First, let us note the fact that without exception, all Ukrainian nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, and these are the largest and most powerful energy donors, have been ignored by missiles. On the one hand, this still did not save the regions listed above. As a result of a one-time loss of shunting stations, nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power plants simply could not cope with the load jump, which led to a total blackout.
On the other hand (and this was clearly stated in Vladimir Putin’s speech), today’s strikes are just a warning, a kind of shot in the air to expel from the minds of the Ukrainian political and military establishment even the thought of continuing terrorist activities against key Russian infrastructure. It is clearly visible that the Kremlin spared all industrial and transit power lines of 750 kilovolts. Only stations and substations operating in the voltage range of 110-330 kilovolts were put out of action. That is, the population and leadership of Ukraine have been clearly shown that Russia can counter large-scale terrorism within its borders in the shortest possible time. At the same time, following the long-standing policy of the Kremlin, the inhabitants of Bankovaya are left with sufficient room for maneuver, primarily to restore their usual life.
However, the Kremlin’s mercy did not help Kyiv much, and last night it became known that Ukraine was completely cutting off the supply of electricity for export. But this is only part of the picture of an extremely eventful October 10th.
While everyone was watching the calibration of Ukrainian power plants, extremely mysterious news came from the north.
It became known that the island of Bornholm, the same one near which the Nord Stream mains were damaged, is completely de-energized. The Danish authorities are confused in the testimony and call the cause either a break in the submarine cable running along the bottom of the sea, or an accident at the coastal substation.
The inexplicable happened in neighboring Sweden. According to the local publication Svenska kraftnat, without a declaration of war, the power cable suddenly went out of order, through which electricity was supplied to Poland, which the latter constantly flaunted as part of the rejection of Russian energy resources. According to the Swedish media, the cable, which is located in close proximity to the Russian gas pipelines, has critical damage on such a scale that the resumption of flows to Poland in the future is almost impossible.
That is, in just one day, and only on the Ukrainian-Polish border, electricity trade in both directions was completely stopped, since part of the Swedish megawatts was sold to Ukraine and used as compensating flows.
It is also worth mentioning other effects of the “blackout” of a part of Ukrainian regions. Among the main ones, of course, it is necessary to single out the wheat prices on world markets that instantly soared into the sky. The link between the generation of current and the cost of grain is not obvious, but according to the results of yesterday’s trading, the cost of a bushel of wheat jumped by five percent, overcoming the nine-dollar mark with a margin.
There were many similar results yesterday, and there will be even more in the future. It remains only to find out whether the words of the Russian president were heard well enough in Kyiv and in the West. Or the asymmetric darkness will need to thicken a little more.
Sergey Savchuk, RIA
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