The warning by the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine comes as the country’s power plants have suffered severe damage due to continued targeting.
At the same time, an energy crisis has emerged, which has had a profound impact on electricity supply, clean water and heating systems. At the same time, prices for consumers have increased.
On August 26, a series of attacks were carried out on Ukraine’s national grid. It was the biggest attack since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to a UN mission report.
More than 100 missiles and 100 drones targeted energy and other infrastructure in many areas of Ukraine.
Local authorities were forced to cut power across the country to restore stability to the grid system.
Effects of serial attacks
The report states that from March 22 to August 31, 2024, there were nine serial attacks on Ukraine’s electricity system.
In addition to the damage to the plant, other sectors of the country including ordinary citizens have been affected in power supply, water distribution, sewage and sanitation systems, health facilities, education and economy.
Due to these attacks, 10 percent of the population of Ukraine, i.e. 3.7 million people, are forced to drink contaminated drinking water.
Since March 2024, the Russian military has launched infrastructure attacks in 20 of the 24 territories under Ukrainian control.
Many energy facilities were repeatedly targeted, and it would take a long time to fully restore or repair them.
On 24 February 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country had 44.1 GW of electricity capacity, coming from nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources.
But by April 2023, almost half of Ukraine’s national grid generation capacity will be gone. Out of 95 high voltage transformers, 42 have collapsed, disrupting power distribution to households.
Fear of forced displacement
According to the United Nations Agency for Refugee Affairs (UNHCR), more than 6.7 million citizens of Ukraine have left the country since the Russian invasion.
6.2 million people are still in European countries, while 3.6 million people have been displaced within the country’s borders. The United Nations organization believes that there is no possibility of reducing these figures at present.
Due to power outages, lack of heating systems and water supply, large numbers of people are moving to other countries and are still unsure when they will return.
These attacks have also had a profound impact on Ukraine’s education system. In July 2024, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported that power outages are causing severe learning losses.
The size of the national economy is also projected to contract by 0.6 percent.