Ukraine races to stop Russia from destroying its power grid

on the battlefield have prompted it to attack Ukraine’s people. Since October 10th it has directed more than 200 cruise missiles and kamikaze drones at a crucial element of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure: the electrical-power grid. And whereas Russia’s invasion has been badly planned, poorly executed and bereft of clear goals, its effort to turn off Ukraine’s lights appears competent and effective.“I believe that some professionals from the energy sector of the Russian Federation helped their military,” says Dmytro Sakharuk, executive director of , Ukraine’s largest private power company. “They carefully selected targets; they did this in a very methodological way.” Russia’s primary targets have been the electrical substations that link different parts of Ukraine’s grid together; some have been hit with as many as ten missiles. The aim is to chop the system into pieces so that power cannot be moved between different regions of the country to balance the load. In serious cases, this can even lead to much of the grid having to be shut down.