It has been revealed that much of the largest thermal power plant in Ukraine's Kyiv region is still severely damaged more than six months after it was destroyed by Russian attacks in April.

Ukraine has faced a series of Russian drone and missile attacks targeting energy infrastructure such as power plants and electricity transmission and distribution facilities since the spring of this year.

This has caused the country to lose 9 gigawatts of generating capacity -- almost half of its peak electricity demand nationwide.

An NHK crew visited the thermal power plant in the Kyiv region on Tuesday for the first coverage of the facility by a Japanese media outlet.

The crew saw badly damaged generators and turbines in a building and many other pieces of burned equipment. Ukraine says six missiles hit the building.

The plant's output capacity is 1.8 million kilowatts. The facility had provided electricity to the capital Kyiv, the Kyiv region and the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, among other parts of the country.

The head of the plant's operating company says it is impossible to restore all of the plant's previous capacity. The top official said the company is considering reviving the facility from scratch.

The official noted that the Russian military carried out precise attacks aimed at crippling the power plant's generating capacity.

The company head described the attacks as "real terrorism" aimed at destroying a nation.

The official added the company will work on its recovery efforts, but the work will be useless without air defense systems.

A Ukrainian media report on Tuesday quoted a high-ranking security official as saying massive Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy industry are expected at the beginning of the heating season.

Ukraine now faces a challenge of how to prevent further strikes by the Russian military ahead of winter.