Ukraine Foiled The Kremlin's Plan To Shut Down All Three Of Its Nuclear Power Plants
- 2.10.2026, 11:37
Moscow's plan calls for three stages of attacks.
Two weeks ago, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Denis Shmyhal showed European partners a Russian plan—intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence—to completely disable Ukraine’s electricity, heating, and water supply systems this fall and winter. Two informed sources told The New York Times about this. According to the document reviewed by the newspaper, the goal of the strikes is to eliminate nearly all of the 15 GW of generating capacity that Ukraine had at the end of the summer.
The plan, dated August, calls for three phases of attacks. First, missile and drone strikes are intended to disable substations near Ukraine’s western borders that import electricity from Europe. Attacks on hydroelectric power plants are then planned. In the third phase, the plan is to shut down all three operating nuclear power plants (the fourth, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, is located in occupied territory).
To do this, the Russian military will launch missile strikes on substations that connect the nuclear power plants to the power grid and are typically located 1–1.5 km from the reactors. The Rivne, South Ukraine, and Khmelnytskyi NPPs, with nine operational power units, generate approximately 63% of the country’s electricity, according to data from the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities as of the end of 2025.
Russia had already attempted in the fall of 2024 to cut the nuclear power plants off from the grid by striking substations. The IAEA even stated at the time that there was a “huge risk” to Ukrainian nuclear power plants due to Russian shelling. However, the current plan represents a more systematic approach and aims to create a full-scale humanitarian crisis.
Its ultimate goal, the NYT reports, is to deprive major cities of electricity, heat, and water. The document identifies Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa as priority targets: the plan is to cut off up to 90% of their electricity and heat, as well as to severely disrupt the operation of their sewer systems.
Strikes will be carried out using ballistic missiles and guided bombs against the water supply system, including pumping stations and treatment plants. Russia has never before subjected such facilities to large-scale bombing.
In September, Vladimir Putin ordered his military leadership to disregard the rules of war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times, citing intelligence data, including intercepted communications from Kremlin officials. According to Zelenskyy, Putin lifted all restrictions that had previously governed air operations. “He said: no more rules,” the Ukrainian president reported.
Putin ordered attacks on all civilian targets in Kyiv to maximize public tension and destabilize the political situation in Ukraine, senior Ukrainian officials told The Economist. As a result, in recent weeks, not only energy facilities and warehouses have come under attack, but also schools, the Academy of Sciences, and bridges. The bombing campaign is expected to peak in November.