Ukraine warns it lacked missiles to protect power plant from Russian attack

The Trypilska thermal power station, one of the biggest electricity suppliers to the Kyiv region, was destroyed by Russian missiles on April 11.

Russia was able to destroy a key power plant serving Kyiv because Ukraine ran out of defensive missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed.

Speaking to US news outlet PBS on Tuesday, Zelenskyy’s comments follow repeated warnings from his government to its allies about scarce air defences. Ukraine is desperately calling for ammunition as Russia scales up strikes on its infrastructure.

The Trypilska thermal power plant (TTPP), one of the biggest electricity suppliers to the Kyiv region, was destroyed by Russian missiles on April 11.

“There were 11 missiles flying. We destroyed the first seven, and [the remaining] four destroyed Trypillia,” he said, referring to the village in which the power plant is situated. ‘Why? Because there were zero missiles. We ran out of missiles to defend Trypillia.”

Ukraine has been struggling throughout the war to convince Western allies to send more air defence systems. It is seeking to raise the urgency once more, with Russia having staged three big attacks on the country’s electricity infrastructure in recent weeks.

Kyiv has said it needs 25 Patriot missile systems to properly protect its energy systems across Ukrainian territory. Germany said on Saturday it would deliver a third system to Ukraine. The United States and other allies have earlier supplied Patriot systems and missiles.

The wave of attacks is the second concerted Russian targeting of Ukraine’s energy system since the invasion more than two years ago. The strategy is starting to take a heavy toll.

National grid operator Ukrenergo warned earlier this month that the country’s energy system needed an overhaul due to the repeated attacks.

Moscow says the attacks are aimed at degrading Ukraine’s ability to fight and are in retaliation for recent attacks inside Russia.

Olympic truce

The Kremlin is keenly aware of Ukraine’s weapons shortages and is eager to take advantage.

The Kremlin on Tuesday reacted coolly to a call from French President Emmanuel Macron for a truce in international conflicts during the Paris Olympics.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military had “noticed that, as a rule, the Kyiv regime uses such ideas, such initiatives to try to regroup, to try to rearm, and so on and so forth. This, of course, significantly complicates the process of considering such initiatives.”

Peskov said there had been no official steps so far on the subject of a truce.