With Russia poised to resume bombing Ukrainian power stations and energy grid ahead of the coming winter, Ukraine could experience short-term power outages, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Ukrainian TV broadcasters on Oct. 12.
Despite the measures Kyiv has taken to bolster its air defenses and harden key nodes of the power grid, the minister did not rule out Moscow managing to disrupt electricity supply to at least extent in the coming months.
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“But we are preparing for everything, so that they [blackouts] are temporary in nature, and to be able to quickly restore [damaged facilities],” said Halushchenko.
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According to him, preparations are ongoing for any eventuality. The scale of potential hostile attacks and their possible impact on the power system is hard to predict, he said.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently warned that Russia is most likely to step air strikes against Ukraine in the winter.
UK Defense Intelligence had previously reported that, while Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are likely to continue this winter, Ukraine demonstrated last winter that it has skilled workers and experience needed to keep the grid operational, even in wartime conditions.
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