[dabigv13]

Good article from the Economist on a critical phase of the war- the Ukrainian energy grid response, and missile defense, from Russian missile attacks.

https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/03...-lights-on

Russia was already a month into its campaign to bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure campaign when the man in charge of Ukraine’s power grid, Volodymyr Kudrytsky, saw a fleet of kamikaze drones headed towards his office. The attack on October 17th at Ukrenergo’s Kyiv headquarters sent many of his colleagues screaming and running for the shelters. Others stayed above ground to try to shoot down the drones. But Mr Kudrytsky headed off to move parked cars to safer spaces. “Some of us have experienced five, ten, twenty attacks over this winter and at one point you cease being frightened,” he recalls. “We’ve learned to be calm while everyone else is losing their minds.”

The latest rocket attack, in the early hours of March 9th, saw Russia target hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of missiles on critical infrastructure. It tested the tenacity of energy planners for the 15th time this winter. But with most of the country swiftly brought back on line, it did not change the fundamentals; Ukraine is still winning a historical battle in which few had expected it to prevail. Engineers are now repairing the system faster than it can be destroyed. Prior to the latest attack, Kyiv had enjoyed four consecutive weeks with no outages. The use by Russia of hard-to-replace Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles at the end of winter would appear to indicate increasing desperation in Moscow.

[dabigv13]

Good article from the Economist on a critical phase of the war- the Ukrainian energy grid response, and missile defense, from Russian missile attacks.

https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/03...-lights-on

Russia was already a month into its campaign to bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure campaign when the man in charge of Ukraine’s power grid, Volodymyr Kudrytsky, saw a fleet of kamikaze drones headed towards his office. The attack on October 17th at Ukrenergo’s Kyiv headquarters sent many of his colleagues screaming and running for the shelters. Others stayed above ground to try to shoot down the drones. But Mr Kudrytsky headed off to move parked cars to safer spaces. “Some of us have experienced five, ten, twenty attacks over this winter and at one point you cease being frightened,” he recalls. “We’ve learned to be calm while everyone else is losing their minds.”

The latest rocket attack, in the early hours of March 9th, saw Russia target hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of missiles on critical infrastructure. It tested the tenacity of energy planners for the 15th time this winter. But with most of the country swiftly brought back on line, it did not change the fundamentals; Ukraine is still winning a historical battle in which few had expected it to prevail. Engineers are now repairing the system faster than it can be destroyed. Prior to the latest attack, Kyiv had enjoyed four consecutive weeks with no outages. The use by Russia of hard-to-replace Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles at the end of winter would appear to indicate increasing desperation in Moscow.