Zelensky names areas most affected by energy system accident

According to Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this in his evening video address.

"Today, the Government, the Ministry of Energy, all our energy companies, and regional and local authorities have been working in emergency mode all day. This morning, a technical incident occurred on the energy grid: two lines between Romania and Moldova, as well as lines on Ukrainian territory, stopped operating," he said.

The causes are being investigated in detail. As of now, there is no confirmation of external interference or a cyberattack. There is more data indicating that due to weather conditions there was icing of the lines and automatic shutdowns, he said.

"Kyiv and central Ukraine, also the Vinnytsia region, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and our Sumy region, have faced the most severe impact. The necessary services were deployed immediately. Over the course of the day, we largely restored the pre-incident situation, and stabilization and restoration of services for the population are now ongoing," Zelensky noted.

He emphasized that "the most difficult situation is in Kyiv. There is a significant heating shortage, with nearly 3,500 buildings in different districts still unheated. City authorities, utility services, and energy workers have promised to do everything possible to restore heating by tomorrow morning. But the pace must be faster. As for the water supply in Kyiv, all consumers in the city should have water today. Reports indicate they do, but we're checking – very carefully."

He reported that electricity imports have been increased.

"Kharkiv, Chernihiv and the region, as well as Sumy, the Dnipro region – Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih – the Kyiv region and Kyiv, our other cities and communities, Vinnytsia and the region, Zhytomyr region, Kropyvnytskyi and the region, Poltava region, Cherkasy and the region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv region, Kherson, Odesa and the region – I want to thank all our repair crews – everyone working to restore and restart systems, and on preserving Ukraine's energy sector under these extremely difficult conditions," Zelensky said.

He also thanked Ukrainian railway workers for their work in preserving logistics and transport connections, especially with regions near the front line.

"Russian strikes hit Ukrzaliznytsia's infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia and the Dnipro region. The Russians' intention is obvious – to cut our cities off from one another," Zelensky said.

He thanked everyone who is resisting and emphasized that Ukrzaliznytsia is also helping with repair teams at energy facilities in cities.

According to Ukrinform, on January 31 a technological disruption occurred between the energy systems of Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine, with a simultaneous shutdown of the power grid.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation stated that the emergency situation in the energy system was not caused by a cyberattack.

In Kyiv, following the emergency situation in Ukraine's energy system, 3,419 multi-story residential buildings were left without heating.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine