---
# System prepended metadata

title: Damage to civilian infrastructure

---

# Damage to civilian infrastructure
## Mariupol
### Power
#### Open source reports
##### DTEK
The energy company, [DTEK](https://dtek.com/en/media-center/news/), publishes press releases and blog posts in English. DTEK Donetsk Grids appears to be the sole distributer of electricity to the Oblast ([Snapshot of Ukraine’s Energy Sector, p68](https://www.oecd.org/eurasia/competitiveness-programme/eastern-partners/Snapshot-of-Ukraines-Energy-Sector-EN.pdf0)).

In the following extracts from [this](https://dtek.com/en/media-center/news/boi-za-svitlo-yak-ukrainska-energosistema-perezhila-10-dniv-viyn/) blog post published on published on 06 March, it claimed that:
* **On 03 Mar 2022, "100% of power is cut to Mariupol"** 
"Power is cut to 201,000 customers. If you multiply it by the number of people in a household, it means around 500,000 people without electricity. Our attempt to restore damaged substations failed as the ceasefire regime did not hold. Therefore, the entire city will be without power for another day.
* **From 03–06 Mar 2022, substations became targets**
"Russians are systematically destroying the critical infrastructure. […] In the first days, they did not intentionally target the critical infrastructure. Even strikes on CHPP-6 located in the Troieshchyna district (Kyiv) most likely were not an intentional attack. However, in the last three days the situation changed and targeted destruction started. A direct hit on the Okhtyrska CHPP in the Sumy region left nothing there. High voltage substations of Ukrenergo in Donetsk Region are also a targeted hit."

DTEK also maintains a rolling post titled, ["Operational Report on Humanitarian AID (UPDATED)"](https://dtek.com/en/media-center/news/operativne-zvedennya-po-diyalnosti-grupi-dte/)
* In an update March 11, DTEK says, "the most difficult situation persists in Mariupol, where more than 200,000 families in the city currently have no electricity due to the impossibility to repair electricity networks. And also in Bucha, Irpin, Makariv and Brovary communities of the Kyiv region". 

Note: The company reported that substations were shelled pre-invasion. See: [DTEK restores electricity supply to Mariupol and nearby settlements](https://www.scm.com.cy/news/dtek-restores-electricity-supply-to-mariupol-and-nearby-settlements), "Two 110 kV transmission lines are damaged by the hostilities an hour before the shelling of Mariupol on 24 January". The power supply was later restored by DTEK.

#### Geo-spatial analysis
Using Open Street Maps (OSM) [TagFinder](http://tagfinder.herokuapp.com/), [OSMNames](https://osmnames.org/), and [TurboOverpass](https://overpass-turbo.eu/) it is possible to look up substations and other components parts of the power grid mapped by users.

Admin level is `Mariupol Municipality`.

| Feature | power=sub_station |line=busbar, transformer=auxiliary, power=tower, power=terminal |
| -------- | -------- | -------- |
| Node    | 689     |1250|
| Way    | 145     |0|
| Relation    | 0     |0|
| Total    | 805     |1250|

```
[out:json];
{{geocodeArea:"Mariupol Municipality"}}->.searchArea;
(
node["power"="substation"](area.searchArea);
way["power"="substation"](area.searchArea);
relation["power"="substation"](area.searchArea);
);
out body;
>;
out;
```
Despite there being more than 2K data points, the actual number locations for Municipality city, is far lower so can be manually checked for damage using satellite imagery.

![](https://i.imgur.com/jq3jax6.jpg)

 ##### Social media
A quick search of Twitter revealed posts relating to infrastructure that had not be captured in our monitoring, likely, because they did not directly involve casualties.


##### VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB)
As Mariupol lost power over 20 days ago, can we access night light data?

See [Nighttime Lights](https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/backgrounders/nighttime-lights)

:::info
**Next steps** 
1. SD to ask MF if possible to check Nighttime lights data
2. Complete satellite image analysis of damage to substations. First SD, then MF.
3. Conduct discovery for social media sources
:::

### Water
#### Open source reports
Accoring to [Relief Web](https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-mariupol-residents-trapped-russian-assault),  municipal authorities said that Mariupol's "drinking water system relies on stations pumping groundwater, which requires electricity. Water treatment plants in Mariupol also require electricity."

Russian forces therefore did not need to damage water infrastructure to cut off supply.

In the [HRW report](https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/21/ukraine-ensure-safe-passage-aid-mariupol-civilians), interviewees said running water stopped "on or around 2 March".

Supply being cut on or around 2 March, is consistent with the claim from DTEK that the city had no power on 03 March.

This analysis excludes wells and steams.

### Telecomms
#### Internet connectivity
See [this note](https://hackmd.io/VwQp7c_SRHC7WKvhlnPovg?view) by EM.

#### Open source

Damage to Kyivstar base staions:
* `C0691` Statement from Kyivstar saying that their last functioning base station in Mariupol was "hit by rockets" one week prior i.e. around 15 March. [Tweet](https://twitter.com/iblametom/status/1506368952959746048?s=20&t=tyGhVtp2trhctBgoqC8oDg) posted on 22 Mar 2022
* Reports from social media, containing video footage, say that Russian forces struck the Kyivstar office – it is unclear if this was the location of the base station.
    * `C0695` Posted with video on 10 Mar at 17:09 PM claims "just" happened [Tweet](https://twitter.com/JacarandaStrt/status/1501938264474677259?s=20&t=lUk_PQQ4wKLp9uCJvHM7Yw) 
    * `C0696` Addition video (same user) posted 10 Mar at 17:17 [Tweet](https://twitter.com/JacarandaStrt/status/1501940377510547456?s=20&t=ttg23K_mPijbCX4uvzU3Tg)
    * `C0694` Video by Kharkiv Tribunal shared on 11 Mar [Tweet](https://twitter.com/kuba_urba/status/1502258578656272388?s=20&t=lUk_PQQ4wKLp9uCJvHM7Yw) 
    * Coords: 47.100554429889165, 37.52459390796084
    * Satellite image analysis inconclusive – hand to MF, if needed 

NB Volodymyr Lutchenko, chief technology officer at Kyivstar is doing lost of interviews. E.g. [FT](https://www.ft.com/content/cc61cefb-0335-473e-8034-3305c0dd882c), [WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-ukraine-war-keeping-phones-online-becomes-key-defense-11648123200?mod=tech_listb_pos1)

#### Geospatial
The OSM tag ``man_made = mast`` retrieved. See [Wiki](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:man_made%3Dmast)

Admin level is Donetsk Oblast.

| Feature | man_made = mast |
| -------- | -------- 
| Node    | 95 |
| Way    | 0     |
| Relation    | 0     |
| Total    | 95     |

Satellite imagery revealed additional masts. Yandex street view imagery was less useful as it showed at least two masts that were dismantled in 2021.

SD analysis:
* The inital analysis looked at 29 locations.
* 16 locations were discounted as they appears to contained objects other than communications masts, chimneys, cranes or pylons.
* 13 locations contained objectd that either resmbled communications masts or were tagged as such by OSM users, e.g. `tower:type=communication` `communication:mobile_phone=yes` `operator=vodafone`.
* Of these 13 locations 
    * None showed severe damage
    * Two (one Vodafone mast and one unidentified mast) showed moderate to adjacent buildings.

Note that damage, particuarly from shelling, may not be visible in satellite imagery.

![](https://i.imgur.com/kg8zY5b.jpg)


### Food shops

:::info
**Next steps** 
1. Write up early analysis of a sample of large supermarkets
2. Expand analysis to all locations downloaded from OSM
3. Compare with Google data to check for completeness 
4. Request MF check
:::

## Kharkiv
### Telecoms
#### Internet connectivity
See [research note](https://hackmd.io/VwQp7c_SRHC7WKvhlnPovg?view) by EM.

#### Open source

###### tags: RUUA-37
Strikes near and on Kharkiv TV tower:
* `C0692` On 02 Mar 2022 at 13:35 GMT+2 video of blast near the TV tower. [Tweet](https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1498985391432429568?s=20&t=0rkrSRx7GzQlfeO9FY11dg)
* `C0693` On 06 Mar at 19:24 GMT+2, the OSINT account "The Intel Hub" reports a strike on Kharkiv TV Tower. [Tweet](https://twitter.com/The_IntelHub/status/1500522763605348352?s=20&t=otpQkKwsjqQbVj2z98TPIw)
* Geolocation: 50.04363134063025, 36.23515661838583
* Severe damage to compound and possible burning around tower is visible in satellite taken on 17 Mar. Last image showing the site undamaged is 20 Feb. NB Might be able to narrow window using Planet.

#### Geospatial
The OSM tag ``man_made = mast`` retrieved. See [Wiki](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:man_made%3Dmast)

Admin level is `Kharkiv Oblast`.

| Feature | man_made = mast |
| -------- | -------- 
| Node    |122 |
| Way    |0 |
| Relation  |0 |
| Total    |122 |

Admin level is `Kharkiv`.

| Feature | man_made = mast |
| -------- | -------- 
| Node    |20 |
| Way    |0 |
| Relation  |0 |
| Total    |20 |


![](https://i.imgur.com/PnAGtuH.jpg)

###### tags: Data 
For raw data see [spreadsheet, "man_made = masts" tags for Kharkiv Oblast](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/104kbCTkArIiC8I1SJvRJhwhBvKaMTUVVk0uCeYzv0Bo/edit?usp=sharing) 

SD analysis:
* The inital analysis looked at 29 locations.
* No locations were discounted as they appears to contained objects other than communications masts
* All locations appeared to be undamaged.

:::info
**Next steps**  
1. Complete discovery for social media sources
:::

## Izyum
### Telecoms
#### Internet connectivity
See [research note](https://hackmd.io/VwQp7c_SRHC7WKvhlnPovg?view) by EM.

#### Open source
To come

#### Geospatial
Incident 

###### tags: RUUA-38
Izyum TV tower:
* Building associated Izym TV tower was damaged on 12 Mar then further damaged by 20 Mar
* Geolocation: 49.17769, 37.27987

:::info
**Next steps** 
1. Conduct discovery for social media sources
2. MF to confirm sat imagery analysis
:::

## Other relevenat events / resources
* Ukrtelecom, a Ukrainian internet service provider, went down on 28-Mar due to a cyber attack. See [Tweet](https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1508489274487889921?s=20&t=otpQkKwsjqQbVj2z98TPIw)
* [Battle Intensifies To Keep Ukraine Online: Data center and network engineers keep the country connected amidst a full-scale military invasion](https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/networks/battle-intensifies-keep-ukraine-online)
* [Ukraine’s Engineers Battle To Keep The Internet Running While Russian Bombs Fall Around Them](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/03/22/while-russians-bombs-fall-around-them-ukraines-engineers-battle-to-keep-the-internet-running/?sh=1a1065915a4c)