[Regnum] Ukraine could face “severe and deadly” frosts this winter because the country has failed to protect its energy system facilities, the British newspaper The Times reported.
"Kiev's failure to build protection for electrical substations... left the country vulnerable to winter," the publication notes.
The authors of the article specified that back in February 2024, engineers from Britain, the USA, Germany and Japan recommended that Ukrainian specialists build structures to protect energy facilities from strikes. They were talking about bunkers for electrical substations, which are considered the "third level of protection."
The publication also emphasizes that for nine months the Ukrainian authorities have done nothing to achieve this. Journalists suggested that such a result could be the result of corruption in Ukrainian departments.
The article also says that approximately 80% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, which could leave the country facing serious problems this coming winter.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on September 25, the head of the Kyiv regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that all thermal power plants and almost all hydroelectric power plants had been destroyed in Ukraine. He also added that many people in the country would be left without electricity in the winter.
On November 4, the British newspaper Daily Express wrote that in Ukraine, as preparations for the upcoming winter began, concerns arose about possible long-term power outages. According to journalists, Ukrainian authorities fear that the power could be out for 14 hours a day.
On November 17, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko announced a massive attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. He claimed that the strikes had hit facilities across the country. Following the official's statement, emergency power outages were introduced in regions of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called this attack one of the largest on the country's critical infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry released information that Russian military forces launched a massive strike on energy and gas production facilities used for the military-industrial complex, as well as military enterprises in Ukraine.
In April 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Russia was forced to respond to Ukraine's attacks on Russia's energy facilities. In addition, the head of state also emphasized that, for humanitarian reasons, the Russian Armed Forces did not carry out attacks in the winter so as not to leave Ukrainian social institutions and hospitals without energy supply.