Fire at Dnipro HPP contained, Ukrhydroenergo reports ‘significant losses’ and critical damage to equipment
A fire at the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) caused by a morning Russian missile strike has been contained but has resulted in significant damage to the plant, Ukrhydroenergo head Ihor Syrota said on national television on March 22.
Read also: Russian strikes on vulnerable targets: Lieutenant General Romanenko on Dnipro HPP attack
Emergency and state rescue services are on the scene.
The machine room is still smoky, making it difficult to assess the full extent of the damage to the hydraulic structure and electrical equipment, but there are "significant losses" and damage to the recently reconstructed and modernized equipment, Syrota said.
The plant is not currently operational, and detailed information on its condition is expected later in the day.
Read also: ‘Under control’ — Though ablaze after RU attack, no threat of breach at Ukraine’s largest hydro dam
The Russian military launched its most extensive attack of 2024 on Ukraine's energy system on the morning of March 22, targeting multiple oblasts with cruise and ballistic missiles, and drones.
Russian forces targeted Ukraine's largest hydroelectric power plant — the Dnipro HPP in Zaporizhzhya — hitting a trolleybus and setting it ablaze, Mariupol mayoral adviser Petro Andriushchenko reported previously. Traffic on the dam has been blocked.
Ukrhydroenergo said that there was no threat of dam breach, with Syrota clarifying that there were two direct hits on the dam. Both of the plant’s stations - HPP-1 and HPP-2 - are currently out of commission.
The attack on the Dnipro HPP marks the most substantial strike on a facility thus far, with Russia aiming to completely disable the plant, said the CEO of Ukrenergo, the Ukrainian national grid operator, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.
According to the prosecutor's office, at least one person was killed in the attack on the Dnipro plant.
Read also: Ukrenergo implements blackouts in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast following Russian attack
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