Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo introduced regional power outage schedules to allow engineers to complete protective structures around energy facilities before winter, Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Nagornyak said.
Speaking on the Kyiv24 television channel, Nagornyak explained that recent local electricity cuts in several regions were caused not only by Russian strikes but also by maintenance work at electrical substations.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned national power company, manages the high-voltage transmission grid across the country. Ukrainian energy infrastructure has been targeted by repeated long-range missile and drone attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Nagornyak said Ukrenergo had been constructing second-level protective structures around high-capacity transformers at its substations since 2023. These reinforced concrete sarcophagi were roughly 90 percent complete, but construction of protective metal nets against attack drones, including jet-powered Shahed drones, remained unfinished.
Substation maintenance work
To finish the installation, workers are taking one-third of power substation capacity offline in turns. Nagornyak said that where three transformers exist at a facility, two remain operating while engineers physically disconnect the third transformer to fit the anti-drone metal netting.
The lawmaker said he expected the planned maintenance and construction work to take a few weeks to complete.
Iranian-designed Shahed loitering munitions have been used extensively by Russian forces to target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. The addition of jet-powered variants has increased the speed and threat posed by incoming aerial attacks, making specialized physical defenses critical for high-voltage grid stability.
Capital power grid warnings
The outage schedules were implemented across a number of Ukrainian regions yesterday. Energy expert Hennadiy Ryabtsev said Ukraine was not currently returning to permanent hourly outage schedules and stated that the issue needed to be resolved in a short timeframe.
Meanwhile, Stanislav Ignatyev, head of the board of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association, warned that Russian forces were attempting to disrupt stable electricity supplies to most of the left bank of Kyiv.
Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is divided by the Dnipro River, with its eastern left bank housing major residential districts and industrial sites that rely on high-voltage transmission connections.
