Ukraine Strikes Orel Power Plant, Vladimir Substation Again as Energy War Deepens

Ukraine reportedly attacked a thermal power plant in Russia’s Orel and a key electrical substation near Vladimir for the second time in a week.

Orel region Governor Andrey Klychkov reported that early on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 5, air defense forces shot down several Ukrainian drones over Orel.

“Several private homes and an outbuilding were damaged when individual drone components fell. There are currently no reports of casualties,” Klychkov wrote on Telegram.

According to him, emergency services and law enforcement personnel are working at the scene.

Orel residents reported explosions near the city’s thermal power plant (TPP) on social media. Some claimed the attack was a missile strike.

Russian Telegram channel Astra OSINT analyst shared this view:

“The attack on the thermal power plant was carried out using a rocket or a jet-powered UAV. The video does not show any air raid sirens, air defense systems, or the characteristic hum of a propeller-driven UAV,” he said.

Less than a kilometer from the Orel TPP is the Oreltekmash defense enterprise, which manufactures mobile maintenance, repair, and evacuation equipment for the Russian military.

Meanwhile, drones also attacked energy infrastructure in the suburbs of Vladimir.

“Specialists are working on the scene. Cleanup operations will begin as soon as daylight arrives,” Vladimir Region Governor Alexander Avdeyev wrote on Telegram.

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He added that “all life support systems are operating normally.”

According to the Bloknot [Notebook] publication, the strike hit the Vladimirskaya substation, a major regional energy hub with an installed capacity of about 4,010 MVA and a key node in the 110-750 kV power grid.

Explosions rocked several Russian cities early Friday, Oct. 31, as drones targeted key energy infrastructure in the Vladimir, Yaroslavl, and Orel regions.

In Vladimir, a powerful blast hit an electrical substation in the village of Energetik, sparking a large fire, according to the Telegram channel Astra. Governor Alexander Avdeev later said that “all systems are now operating normally,” without specifying the damage or casualties.

In Orel, drones struck the city’s main thermal power plant (TPP), damaging power supply equipment and cutting heat and hot water to three of the city’s four districts.

At the time, the Ukrainian Navy stated that the strike on the TPP was carried out by Neptune cruise missiles, targeting the plant’s outdoor switchgear, which receives, distributes, and transmits electricity from the plant’s generators to the power lines.

According to a Russian Defense Ministry report, overnight air defense systems “intercepted and destroyed” 40 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones. Eleven of these were over the Voronezh region, 8 over Rostov, 6 over Kursk, 5 over Bryansk, 2 each over Belgorod and Oryol, and 5 over occupied Crimea. Notably, the Vladimir region was not mentioned in the report.

The Ukrainian side has not yet confirmed its involvement in the attacks.

Ukraine began striking Russian energy facilities after Moscow’s massive attacks on Ukraine’s own power sector.

Drones also hit multiple industrial and energy facilities deep inside Russia late on Nov. 3 and early Nov. 4, sparking fires and widespread blackouts, according to regional officials.

In the Volgograd region, debris from a downed UAV ignited the Frolovskaya electrical substation, cutting power to parts of Frolovo and nearby districts.

In the Kursk region, more than 16,000 people lost electricity after what Governor Alexander Khinshtein called an “enemy strike” on a substation. Another substation in the village of Belaya caught fire, leaving seven settlements without power.