Russia launched over 26 attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities over past day – Energy Ministry
Russian forces carried out more than 26 attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities over the past day.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said this during a discussion with the ambassadors of the Group of Seven (G7) countries on Ukraine's key needs ahead of the winter under conditions of constant shelling, Ukrinform reports, citing the ministry's Facebook post.
"Just today, we have faced more than 26 attacks on our energy facilities. The Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odesa, and Poltava regions are essentially under daily enemy fire. Therefore, our top priority is protection – we need more air defense and electronic warfare systems to shield critical infrastructure. Another priority is the development of passive physical protection, which has already proven its effectiveness," the minister said.
According to Hrynchuk, ramping up the production of energy equipment is also critically important. She called on Ukraine's partners to assist with additional equipment – not only new but also used – capable of replacing what has been destroyed.
Another priority, she said, is accumulating sufficient natural gas reserves. Expanding imports now is vital as Russia continues to target Ukraine's gas infrastructure.
"We have prepared a list of urgent needs, which we are passing on to the G7 for further detailed work with each member country. I am grateful to our partners for expressing readiness to work on swift solutions that Ukraine urgently requires," Hrynchuk added.
The discussion was also attended by Sergii Koretskyi, CEO of Naftogaz Group, Vitalii Zaichenko, CEO of Ukrenergo, and Pavlo Kovtoniuk, Acting CEO of Energoatom.
Earlier, Hrynchuk said that Ukraine's energy workers were doing everything necessary to prevent large-scale power restrictions this winter.