Intercepted Russian document details plan to hit 60 Ukrainian energy facilities — media
Read NV on Google
Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa are the main Russian targets (Photo: REUTERS/Yan Dobronosov)
An intercepted Russian plan outlines strikes on 60 Ukrainian energy and municipal targets, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Oct. 8.
The document lists 60 strategic infrastructure targets nationwide, including major hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) and nuclear power plants (NPPs). The investigative report is based on intelligence files obtained from sources within Ukraine's Defense Forces.
The leaked blueprint appears to be the same intelligence file presented to international partners in Paris this September by Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, which was later highlighted in reporting by The New York Times.
The Russian operational brief provides granular analytical assessments of Ukraine's domestic energy capacity, along with exact munitions expenditure calculations required to strip metropolitan centers such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa of electrical power, heating, and potable running water throughout the winter.
The plan prioritizes severing cross-border electrical interconnectors near Ukraine's western frontier that handle electricity imports from the European Union, incapacitating ten large hydroelectric power stations located primarily along the Dnipro and Dniester rivers, and disconnecting three operating nuclear power plants from the national grid.
Beyond HPPs, NPPs, and border interconnectors, the 60 targets encompass thermal power plants (TPPs), combined heat and power plants (CHPPs), key high-voltage transmission substations, municipal boiler houses, wastewater treatment plants, and urban water pumping stations.
Russian planners calculate that executing the nationwide blackout strategy will require:
Up to 770 strike and decoy UAVs (specifically Molniya and Geran drones, alongside Dan-T and Banderol rocket-drone hybrid cruise systems);
170 guided aerial bombs (FAB-500 glide bombs);
75 aero-ballistic and ground-launched ballistic missiles (Kh-47M2 Kinzhal and 9M723 Iskander-M).
Specific asset formulas:
Nuclear power plants: The plan allocates two Iskander-M ballistic missiles per nuclear facility — requiring six missiles in total to strike external electrical switchgear and sever power lines at three operating stations.
Hydroelectric stations: Each major HPP is allocated up to 25 Molniya, Geran, or Dan-T/Banderol drones, or three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
Thermal generation: For major CHPPs with multiple step-up transformer blocks, Russian planners budget 25 strike drones or three Kinzhal missiles per plant, alongside approximately 25 FAB-500 glide bombs and five Iskander-M ballistic missiles to collapse boiler houses and turbine halls.
Metropolitan Target Focus
The leaked file designates Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa as primary strategic municipal targets intended to suffer catastrophic utility collapses. The broader target roster encompasses Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Poltava, Chernihiv, Kryvyi Rih, Cherkasy, Kropyvnytskyi, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and Ivano-Frankivsk.
On Sept. 24, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal disclosed that Ukrainian intelligence had obtained two detailed Russian winter attack plans. "Last week, our special services obtained materials from the Russian side detailing the strategy of Russian terrorists for this winter. It shocked our partners, just as it shocked us, with its cynicism and cold-blooded terrorist calculus for destroying our energy sector," Shmyhal announced, noting specialized operational playbooks tailored to every Ukrainian city with a population exceeding 500,000.
On Oct. 2, The New York Times reported that Ukrainian diplomats presented these intercepted plans to European capitals to accelerate deliveries of air defense interceptors, Patriot systems, and electrical grid restoration components before freezing temperatures set in.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
