Dnipro loses power again as damaged grid struggles, disrupting public transport

Dnipro experienced another widespread blackout on the morning of 30 October, as an energy grid damaged by Russian attacks failed to cope with demand. Emergency power cuts were introduced in the city and surrounding areas of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, while almost all public transport powered by electricity stopped operating.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said the emergency restrictions were imposed on instructions from Ukrenergo, the country's state-owned electricity transmission operator. The affected areas included Dnipro, districts around the city and parts of the Pavlohrad district. The cuts followed severe damage to equipment in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during Russian attacks on 29 October.

Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, initially reported early in the morning that power engineers had restored electricity to some consumers overnight. That progress was followed by a renewed loss of supply in Dnipro. In a later message, Hanzha said the damaged energy grid had been unable to handle the load, leaving the city without power again.

Mayor Borys Filatov urged residents to prepare for the disruption by keeping enough food and water at home to last at least several days. He also asked people to remain indoors where possible, pointing to the interruption of electric public transport as the city faced another blackout.

In his initial account of the transport situation, Filatov said buses were running but trams, trolleybuses and the metro were not. The interruption affected all three forms of electric public transport he named, leaving buses operating while those services were stopped. His appeal to stay home accompanied that warning about travel within the city.

The city council's Transport Department subsequently reported a partial improvement in metro operations. As of 07:30, electricity had been partially restored to the metro, allowing trains to run at intervals of 16 minutes. That update revised the earlier account that metro services had stopped during the blackout.

DTEK had previously reported that a Russian attack on the main power networks left parts of Dnipro and nearby districts without electricity. More than 350,000 electricity consumers in the city and neighbouring settlements lost power following the attack.

Repair work remained underway as authorities reported the renewed outage and the partial restoration of metro service.