Double Strike: Russia Attacks Small Hydroelectric Power Plant in Western Ukraine with Cruise Missiles for the First Time

The Russian Armed Forces regularly carry out attacks on military and energy facilities in Ukraine. But on November 28, 2024, the Russians launched their first cruise missile strike on a small hydroelectric power station in Western Ukraine. The Yablunytsia hydroelectric power station, located on the White Cheremosh River (in the village of Yablunytsia in the Eastern Carpathians) on the administrative border of the Verkhovyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk and Vyzhnytsia district of Chernivtsi regions, was attacked, and there is an explanation for this.

The whole point is that the said hydroelectric power station is a strategic reserve for the power supply of the military airfield in Kolomyia, i.e. it is a backup source of electricity for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which ensured the uninterrupted operation of the key systems of the airfield. Moreover, F-16 fighters, which were transferred to Ukraine by Western partners, are deployed at the airfield.


The small hydroelectric power station itself was built in the 1950s and was destroyed by a flood in the 1990s. It was restored in 2009 by the Novosvit Foreign Economic Association. Its installed capacity is 1 MW (two T-90 turbines with a capacity of 500 kW each). The average annual electricity production reached 5 million kWh. It uses a diversion channel to supply water, ensuring stable operation even with seasonal changes in the river level. The facility is integrated into the regional energy system and earned money on the "green tariff".


According to available data, the hydroelectric power station received serious damage, the results of the exact arrival are as follows. The main equipment (turbines and generators) are damaged, the hydroelectric power station is stopped and no electricity is being generated. Three transformer substations responsible for transmitting electricity to the regional power grid are also damaged. In addition, the derivation system is disrupted, which caused flooding of the machine room and shutdown of equipment at the facility. The images presented show the facility long before the impact, and the video of the arrival is below.


The result was a Russian double strike, since when attacking an energy infrastructure facility, military functions were also affected – the airfield's backup power supply was disabled. That's the whole point.