Russian strikes devastate Ukraine’s power grid as winter approaches

(27 Oct 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Kyiv, Ukraine - 26 October 2026 1. Tilt down of destroyed power plant 2. Close of damaged equipment at the power plant 3. Close of power plant workers clearing debris 4. Mid of power plant equipment crushed by debris 5. Mid of power plant workers looking at the damage 6. Mid of damaged power plant equipment 7. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Yurii Kharko, Director of the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant: "This year, energy facilities have suffered a huge number of strikes. More than 2,500 strikes hit electric power and water supply facilities, where the maximum amount of equipment was destroyed, making it impossible to either transmit or generate electricity for consumers." 8. Mid of workers cleaning debris 9. Close of workers cleaning debris 10. Mid of a warning sign (Ukrainian) "Stop! High Voltage," with workers clearing debris in the background 11. Mid of damaged power plant equipment 12. Close of damaged equipment 13. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Yurii Kharko, Director of the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant: "These attacks have become more large-scale. A very large number of aerial targets are concentrated on a single facility, from ballistic missiles to jet-powered and conventional drones, which constantly and completely destroy all the equipment and the infrastructure surrounding the facilities." 14. Wide of collapsed power plant ceiling 15. Mid of workers welding pipes 16. Mid of a worker passing by debris 17. Various of the damage 18. Wide of heavy structural damage to the power plant building STORYLINE: Workers cleared debris from wrecked equipment at the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant near Kyiv on Monday after a Russian strike on Sept. 30 left the facility destroyed. Crews worked amidst the damaged machinery at the plant, about 40 kilometers from Ukraine’s capital. Yurii Kharko, the plant’s director, said more than 2,500 strikes had hit electricity and water supply facilities this year, destroying equipment needed to generate and transmit power. According to Kharko, the attacks were growing in scale, with Russia concentrating missiles and drones on individual facilities. “A very large number of aerial targets are concentrated on a single facility, from ballistic missiles to jet-powered and conventional drones, which constantly and completely destroy all the equipment and the infrastructure surrounding the facilities,” he said. The strike on Trypilska was part of a large-scale attack targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials say no power station in the country has escaped being hit, with the electricity transmission system suffering particularly severe damage. The attacks have disrupted electricity and heating supplies, increasing risks for consumers as winter approaches, officials say. A U.N.-backed inquiry reported Monday that Russia’s deliberate attacks on the energy network constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity, leaving millions of civilians without electricity and heat in freezing temperatures. The electricity cuts have left millions of civilians suffering in frigid winter darkness, the elderly without elevators to get to shelters during missile and drone attacks, and hospital patients without critical devices to keep them alive, the report said. The independent commission of inquiry concluded that the attacks intentionally targeted civilian objects and inflicted great suffering on civilians. Russia's U.N. Mission said Monday that Russia does not recognize the mandate of the commission and claimed its findings were based on “falsified data.” Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...