Putin's War Began Hours After Ukraine Left Russian Energy System: Official

Mere hours after Ukraine began a process to pull and independently test its energy system from a shared grid with Russia and Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine, according to a top Ukrainian energy official.

Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Farid Safarov said in an interview published by the Kyiv Post on Tuesday that Ukraine was part of a common power grid with Russia, Belarus and Moldova, but plans were in place to separate Ukraine's energy system from Russia and Belarus and test it independently on February 24.

Ukraine began that testing process at 2 a.m. February 24. Just two hours later, Putin launched his war against Ukraine, Safarov told the Post.

"The Russians believed that by doing this, they would manage to bring down Ukraine's energy system," Safarov said.

Safarov's comments suggest that targeting Ukraine's power infrastructure was on Putin's radar from the onset of the conflict, even though Russia has ramped up attacks on energy systems in recent months.

Russia launched its newest barrage of missile strikes against Ukraine on Monday, reportedly disrupting power, inflicting civilian casualties and hitting buildings and homes in the war-torn country.

Russia has carried out several series of attacks across Ukraine since October after Putin blamed Ukraine for an explosion that damaged the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula and is also a key supply route for Putin's troops. Ukraine did not officially take responsibility for the explosion, but some top Ukrainian officials celebrated the development on social media at the time.

Western officials have sharply condemned Russia's recent missile attacks that have targeted Ukraine's power infrastructure and facilities in the face of the cold winter months. In late November, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused Russia of trying to freeze Ukraine's civilians "into submission" amid Putin's failure so far to achieve victory on the battlefield.

In mid-March, engineers were able to connect Ukraine to a European electricity grid in a move that allowed it to separate its system from Russia amid the war, NBC reported. Safarov praised the energy workers who did an "incredible job" of quickly syncing Ukraine's system with the European one.

"That was a miracle because it was expected that it would take Ukraine one and a half years to do this," he said.

Neighboring Moldova was also linked to the Continental European Power System with Ukraine.

Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin for comment.