Ukraine and its backers spent months preparing for Russia to again try to plunge civilians into cold and darkness. But more air defenses and autotransformers are still needed, officials said.
A Ukrainian soldier of the 65th Mechanized Brigade walks in the trench built by Russian forces, near the frontline village of Robotyne, in the Zaporizhzhia region, on October 1, 2023. KYIV — After an initially balmy fall, temperatures are dropping in Ukraine — and Russia has already begun pummeling Ukraine’s energy system, in a reprise of its brutal attempt last autumn and winter to demoralize Ukrainians by plunging them into darkness and cold.
Ukraine’s energy grid has mostly recovered from last year’s damage, officials said. But many systems are still not operating at full capacity, making them vulnerable. Ukrainian officials said they still do not have enough, and President Volodymyr Zelensky has made securing more one of his top priorities in meetings with Western leaders, including Thursday at a European leaders summit in Granada, Spain.
Some retaliation has begun. Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s western Kursk region Thursday and twice last week, Russian officials said, temporarily cutting power to several villages and a hospital. Ukrainian officials said a “Russian military installation” was left without electricity. The claims could not be verified.
“We do not have protection of our power stations by air defense systems on the level so that I can say that this power station is 100 percent protected,” said Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer.Officials have drawn lessons from last year. Ukraine has stockpiled coal and gas, and secured guarantees from its neighbors to supply electricity if generation facilities are disabled.
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