Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
A view of the destroyed engine room of Trypillia Thermal Power Plant in Kyiv Oblast after a Russian missile attack on April 11, 2024. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, announced on April 22 that it requires $350 million to recover the lost capacity caused by Russia's attacks on thermal power plants.
The company's Executive Director, Dmytro Sakharuk, said that Ukraine is anticipating electricity shortages during peak periods in summer and winter due to the loss of eight gigawatts of generation capacity from recent attacks.
In March, DTEK's facilities were subjected to at least 10 attacks as Russia resumed its campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. As a result, approximately 80% of DTEK's thermal generating capacity suffered damage or destruction.
"We have six power plants. We will not rebuild one of them yet, because it is close to the front line and there is constant shelling. In addition, the only way to supply coal there has been destroyed," he said.
The estimated damages amount to $250 million plus an additional $100 million for repairs, according to Sakharuk. Last year, the company incurred slightly lower damages and spent $110 million on recovery efforts following the winter shelling of 2022.
While last year's costs were covered by the company's own funds, DTEK is now exploring various avenues to raise funds. This includes sourcing parts and components from European energy facilities, with ongoing negotiations involving the governments of Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Lithuania.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Kateryna Denisova
