Explaining complex things in simple words: Attack on Dnipro HPP, security of Ukraine's power system, security meeting in Kyiv

ATTACK ON DNIPRO HYDROELECTRIC STATION

On March 22, Russia attacked the Dnipro HPP dam in Zaporizhzhia with missiles.

▪ Dnipro HPP is the largest hydroelectric power station in Ukraine, an important critical infrastructure facility serving millions of people.

▪ A Russian missile targeted a trolleybus moving across the dam. A fire broke out at the station. There are human casualties. Road crossing of the dam is completely restricted.

▪ The Russians were aiming at the dam of the Dnipro HPP, trying to cause a new ecological catastrophe like the one when they blew up the dam of the Kakhovka HPP in 2023.

▪ There is currently no threat of a dam breach. The situation is under control.

▪ Russia must be stopped before it causes global environmental disasters. The attack against the Dnipro HPP once again showed that the Kremlin terrorists would not stop. 

 SECURITY OF THE POWER SYSTEM OF UKRAINE

On the night of March 22, the enemy attacked primarily the objects of the energy system of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

▪ The Russian attack on the Ukrainian energy sector has become the largest in recent times. In total, the enemy used 151 means of air attack. ▪

The purpose of enemy shelling is not just to damage, but to cause a large-scale malfunction of the energy system of Ukraine.

▪ As a result of the attack, there were power outages in some regions. Power engineers are already working on the restoration of grids.

▪ The external overhead line PL-750 kV Dniprovska, which connects the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP with the united power system of Ukraine, has been disconnected. The plant is on the verge of blackout.

▪ Ukraine has an urgent need for additional air defense/missile defense systems and missiles to them. This is quite possible if the partners have enough political will. 

SECURITY MEETING IN KYIV

On March 21-22, the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum was held. The Forum was designed to mark ten years since the signing of the political part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and had the slogan "Ukraine's call to the world: together, we prevail!"

▪ More than 80 foreign and Ukrainian speakers took part in the meeting. For the first time during the full-scale war, Rob Bauer, the highest-ranking NATO military official, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, visited Kyiv.

▪ Deterring Russian aggression is the task of all democracies, and Ukraine's victory will be the common victory of the free world.

▪ “NATO and Ukraine are closer than ever,” “The Swedish flag will not be the only blue and yellow flag at the NATO headquarters,” said Bauer.

▪ Russia will not succeed in intimidating Ukraine's partners. Kyiv will continue to be a venue for high-level meetings, despite Russian shelling. 

Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security