Russian occupation forces sought to attack regional energy facilities with drone attacks during February 2024 in order to disrupt industrial activity in Ukraine.
What were Russia's February drone attack goals in Ukraine?
The intelligence review of the UK MOD was reported on March 4 on the X page.
In Feb. 2024, Russia carried out a campaign of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian infrastructure, including electricity.
Ukrainian air defence forces are said to have repeatedly shot down drones, but Russian strikes are said to have most likely damaged Ukrainian power plants and electrical substations. The review notes that these attacks took place across Ukraine, with damage to regional energy infrastructure, including in Donetsk, Dnipro and western Ukraine, as far as Lviv.
The Russian attacks are reported to have most likely been carried out using a combination of kamikaze drones, surface-to-surface missile systems and conventional rocket artillery rather than Russian long-range aircraft, as seen in 2022 and 2023.
It is quite probable that Russia sought to target regional energy facilities to disrupt industrial activities in Ukraine, as opposed to their previous tactic of cutting power to household consumers. The intelligence reported that Ukraine's energy system maintains stable network operations despite these attacks, the report says.
What is known about the new attack tactics of the Russian army on energy facilities in Ukraine
According to the head of the Ministry of Energy, Herman Galushchenko, the criminal army of the Russian Federation has changed the tactics of massive missile and drone attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine.
The head of the Ministry of Energy noted that currently, Russian war criminals have concentrated their efforts on attacks on advanced Ukrainian industrial regions.
Galushchenko emphasized that in this way, the enemy is trying to influence the economy through energy.
They didn't stop hitting, they changed their tactics a bit. They are now hitting certain regions. That is, they choose energy facilities for both electricity transmission and generation in a certain region, the minister explains.
