The Ukrainian Armed Forces« Unmanned Systems Forces have reported striking a further 29 energy facilities in the temporarily occupied territories as part of Operation »Crimean Circuit Breaker Off’. According to the UAF’s Unmanned Systems Forces, between 1 July and 13 August, units successfully carried out strikes on 240 energy facilities, including the Balaklava Thermal Power Station in Sevastopol and infrastructure in the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Briefly about the main points
- The Security Service of Ukraine has announced a new series of strikes on energy infrastructure in the temporarily occupied territories.
- The Balaklava Thermal Power Station in occupied Sevastopol was named as one of the targets.
- High-voltage substations were attacked in the Zaporizhzhia region, including in Berdiansk.
- In Mariupol, four substations and a gas distribution station were hit.
- The SBS links the operation to the disruption of Russian radar and air defence systems.
The aim of the strikes is to hamper the operations of the Russian air defence forces
Commander of the SSF Robert Brovdi reported, stating that strikes on energy infrastructure are intended to disrupt the operation of fixed radar stations and other elements of Russia’s air defence system.
According to his explanation, cutting off the power supply to such facilities weakens airspace defences and creates conditions for further operations by Ukrainian strike drones. The reported results of the operation relate to facilities that support the Russian occupation forces, their logistics, radars and air defence systems.
The Balaklava Thermal Power Station and the network of substations in the Zaporizhzhia region
The strike on the Balaklava thermal power station was carried out by the 9th «Kairos» Battalion of the 414th Separate Brigade of the Special Forces Service «The Birds of Magyar». Earlier, during the night of 14 July, the Special Operations Forces reported that the machine shop and the cooling system of one of the turbines had been damaged.
In the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, attacks were carried out on the «Bilmak» high-voltage substation in Kam’yanka, the «Berdyanska» and «Morska» substations in Berdyansk, «Primorska» in Primorsk, «Chernihivka» and «Botievska» in Primorsky Posad, «Andriivka», as well as «GPP», «Fakel» and «Lazurna» in Berdiansk. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated that these included, in particular, facilities operating at voltages of 110 and 150 kV.
Units carried out repeated strikes on specific targets in Berdiansk and Andriivka. There were also reports of damage to substations in Sokolohirsk and other occupied settlements in the region.
Targets in Mariupol and the Luhansk region
In the occupied Donetsk region, drones attacked the «Misto-3» and «NS-2» substations, «Ilyich» and «Misto-6» in Mariupol, as well as the GRS-1 «Mariupol» gas distribution station. Energy facilities were also reported in Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Rivne and Shyrokyne.
In the Luhansk region, substations in Svatove, Mykhailivka, Lozivsk and Arapivka came under attack. The operations involved the First Separate Centre of the Security Service of Ukraine, the «Ptakhiv Madyara», «Rarog», «Yastruby», «Nemesis» and ‘K-2’ brigades, as well as other units. One of the strikes on a target in Berdiansk was carried out with the assistance of the SBU.
