Since March, Russian drone and missile strikes have crippled about half of Ukraine’s energy production.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has announced a series of measures intended to secure Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Zelenskyi told about it in his video speech on Thursday evening.
The measures include, among other things, the securing of power plants targeted by attacks by Russian forces and the development of alternative renewable energy sources.
– Life in Ukraine must be secured and that includes security of energy supply, Zelenskyi said in his speech.
Russia has attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, especially in winter. Russia also carried out a wider series of strikes against Ukraine’s power grid last March, when Western-supplied anti-aircraft missiles were running out of Ukrainian military stockpiles.
Russian drone and missile strikes have crippled around half of Ukraine’s energy production since March, according to official data.
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine says that the attacks carried out by Russia the night before Thursday targeted power plants in four different regions and cut off electricity from almost 220,000 customers. In addition, seven energy plant employees were wounded in the attacks.
Zelenskyi presented a draft of a plan to minimize attacks on the electricity grid and production. The plan includes, among other things, a program for the production and storage of solar electricity.
According to Zelenskyi, the project must be completed before winter.
According to the president, the Ukrainian administration continues to work “to create a new energy generation and a new decentralized energy capacity”.
– This process is challenging in wartime conditions, but we have to implement it like many other challenging projects, Zelenskyi said.
Russia has repeatedly said that energy infrastructure is a legitimate target in warfare and has denied that it has struck civilian targets and infrastructure.
Sources: Reuters, AFP