For the first time, Russia has started to strike at heat generation. The NSDC told how the enemy is changing tactics

Russians are changing the tactics of shelling Ukraine's energy sector. Until 2026, the enemy will not attack the heat generation sector, said olha Babiy, Advisor to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, in an interview with Delo.ua.

According to her, at first the enemy destroyed Ukrenergo's substations and did not allow the transmission of electricity from generation facilities. In the spring of 2024, the Russians changed their tactics, destroying 9 GW of shunting generation, which in 2022 was an airbag for the Ukrainian energy sector.

"It is technically impossible to rebuild this generation in a year and a half. The Russians realized this, so they changed their attack tactics again," Babiy said.

Now the Russians are attacking with a large number of "shaheds", destroying even the substations of regional power companies. By doing so, the enemy divides not only the national power grid but also local systems in the regions. In addition, since 2026, the Russians have begun to attack heat generation, which they have never done before in a full-scale war.

"The targets of their attacks were heating systems in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa and other cities," Babiy said.

She also praised the passive defense system that Ukrenergo began to build after the first attacks. According to the National Security and Defense Council adviser, this defense has worked and continues to save the company from the Shahedin attacks. But the enemy, in addition to drones, began to use ballistics and other types of missiles on a massive scale. And missile defense is a complex concrete structure that will take years to build.

Air defense is also an important factor in protecting energy facilities from attacks. It can help protect large generation facilities.

"Earlier, when there were attacks, air defense often saved us. Now our air defense is being strengthened, we see a much larger number of intercepted targets. But the attacks have become several times more massive," Babiy said.

• Russian troops on January 20 hit on power substations that are key to ensuring Ukraine's nuclear safety, the IAEA said.
• on January 25, Prime Minister Svyrydenko announced that Ukraine's energy sector survived the most difficult period since the blackout in 2022. And on January 22nd was the most difficult day for the power system during this period.