Illustrative Image
The fragile 30-day truce on energy infrastructure strikes, reached by Moscow and Washington on March 18, is collapsing as Ukrainian forces continue daily attacks on Russian power facilities. Over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry recorded four separate attacks targeting energy infrastructure across three regions, alongside intercepted drone attacks on critical gas export facilities, revealing Kyiv’s determination to maintain pressure on Russia’s energy sector despite diplomatic agreements.
In the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, two separate artillery strikes on April 8 damaged high-voltage power lines, leaving villages without electricity. The first attack at 8.18 a.m. local time cut power to Bolshoye Soldatskoye, followed by the second strike at 1.20 p.m. that disrupted supply to Kamyshnoye and Krupets.
The campaign extended beyond frontline areas with a nighttime drone strike on the Botievo Wind Farm in Zaporizhzhia region – a rare attack on renewable energy infrastructure that reduced output by 3.25 MW.
Hours later, in the early morning of April 9, another UAV attack damaged power lines in Rostov region’s Kamensky District, affecting approximately 400 households.
These incidents mirror Ukraine’s established pattern of targeting border regions’ energy infrastructure to strain local populations and complicate repair efforts.
Most significantly, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported interception of eight Ukrainian drones targeting the Korenovskaya Compressor Station in Krasnodar region – a crucial node for the TurkStream gas pipeline supplying 31.5 billion cubic meters annually to European markets. Two more drones were shot down approaching the Temryuk gas distribution station near the Black Sea coast. While unsuccessful, these attacks mark a strategic escalation by targeting energy export infrastructure critical to Russia’s economy and European supply chains.
The Russian Defense Ministry has framed these incidents as clear violations of the U.S.-brokered agreement, stating that “the Kiev regime has not stopped attacking Russian energy infrastructure for a single day” since the March 18 truce took effect.
The ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure carry significant implications for the conflict’s trajectory. Ukraine appears committed to degrading Russia’s energy export capacity and domestic distribution networks despite diplomatic risks. The breakdown of the energy truce signals diminishing prospects for localized de-escalation agreements and suggests both sides are preparing for a protracted phase of mutual infrastructure targeting.
