Ukraine could face an extremely difficult energy situation this winter if Russia continues its massive strikes on critical infrastructure, according to Oleh Popenko, head of the Union of Utility Consumers.
According to Popenko, attacks on heating infrastructure in major cities pose a particular threat. He believes facilities in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv and Kharkiv could be targeted.
“We have reached a ‘doomsday winter.’ Last winter, when Kyiv spent two months in simply horrific conditions, will seem like an easy walk in comparison,” Popenko said.
The expert noted that substations, which transmit electricity from generation facilities to consumers, remain among the most vulnerable elements of Ukraine’s energy system. Some of these facilities are critical to supplying electricity to entire regions.
According to Popenko, Russia has repeatedly attacked these substations and has information about their locations. Even restoring some generating capacity, he said, does not guarantee a stable electricity supply if the infrastructure used to transmit power is damaged.
Popenko also pointed to the cumulative effect of repeated attacks as a separate problem. The more often the same facility is struck, the more difficult and time-consuming it becomes to restore it.
“Constant strikes on the same substations will simply mean that restoring them will take longer and longer,” Popenko said.
In his view, favorable weather conditions and an end to Russian strikes on energy infrastructure are critically important for Ukraine to get through the heating season.
Earlier, Serhiy Nahorniak, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy, said that President Volodymyr Zelensky had been presented with an inaccurate picture of the implementation of regional energy resilience plans.
According to Nahorniak, officials reported to the country’s leadership that the necessary work would be completed by September 1, although the actual situation showed that such deadlines were unrealistic.
“We are partly living in a lie because some people report upward that everything will be fine by September 1, that everything will be built. The president is presented with a picture showing that everything will be ready by September 1. But objectively, they are afraid to tell the truth that it will not be ready by September 1,” Nahorniak said.
