During yesterday’s massive attack, Russians attacked substations for the first time with cluster missiles

“There hadn’t been missile strikes before because it was economically impractical for the enemy. Yesterday, however, there were the first missile attacks – but these were missiles with cluster munitions, not ‘Kinzhals,’ used to attack our distribution substations,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. He added that despite the dozens of rockets launched by the Russians, Ukraine lost only a “very small” amount of equipment.

The protective structures for energy facilities in Ukraine are divided into three levels. The first level involves shielding with gabions against indirect hits. The second level consists of monumental reinforced concrete shelters for transformers and other energy facilities, designed to provide “guaranteed protection” from drones. There are also experimental projects for third-level protective structures, which are planned to cover an area the size of three football fields. However, such structures are very expensive, and their economic feasibility is unclear, Shmyhal noted. For example, six such structures would require 188 billion hryvnias. Neither Ukraine’s partners nor the state budget can provide such funds.

Most of these protective structures near energy facilities have already been built. This work is overseen by “Ukrenergo” and the State Agency for Restoration. The state has allocated tens of billions of hryvnias for this, Shmyhal said.

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