Ukraine’s battered power grid faces unprecedented challenge – energy minister

Emergency tents have been set up in a residential neighbourhoods to allow people to get warm (Vladyslav Musiienko/AP)

Russia has not spared a single Ukrainian power plant from attack since its all-out invasion, Ukraine’s new energy minister said.

Denys Shmyhal was speaking as a recent escalation of aerial bombardments left hundreds of thousands of people without heat or light for days amid the coldest winter for years.

Mr Shmyhal said Russia has conducted 612 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure objects over the last year. That barrage has intensified in recent months as nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 18C.

People use emergency tents to warm up following Russia’s regular air attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure (Vladyslav Musiienko/AP)

“Nobody in the world has ever faced such a challenge,” Mr Shmyhal told politicians in a speech at Ukraine’s parliament.

Russia has hammered Ukraine’s power grid, especially in winter, throughout the war. It aims to weaken the Ukrainian will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call “weaponising winter”.

The grim outlook roughly halfway through the winter season coincides with uncertainty about the direction and progress of US-led peace efforts.

“This is a critical moment,” Jaime Wah, the deputy head in the Kyiv delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said on Friday.

“This is the hardest winter since the escalation of the conflict: punishing cold temperatures and the lack of heating and electricity are affecting millions who are already pushed to the edge by years of violence and economic strain,” he told a briefing in Geneva.

Nighttime temperatures have plunged to minus 18C in Ukraine (Mykola Tys/AP)

Ukraine’s power shortage is so desperate that Mr Shmyhal urged businesses to switch off their illuminated signage and exterior decorations to save electricity.

“If you have spare energy, better give it to people,” the energy minister said. “This is the most important thing today. People will be grateful.”

Ukraine has introduced emergency measures, including temporarily easing curfew restrictions to allow people to go whenever they need to public heating centres set up by the authorities, Mr Shmyhal said, adding that hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure remain the top priority for electricity and heat supplies.

Officials have instructed state energy companies to urgently purchase imported electricity covering at least 50% of their own consumption, according to Mr Shmyhal.