85% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure protected against Russian strikes, PM says
Ahead of the coming winter, Ukraine has protected 85% of its energy infrastructure in anticipation of further Russian attacks, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a Sept. 10 press conference attended by a Kyiv Independent reporter.
Ukrainians have been living with intermittent power outages throughout the summer since Russia stepped up its campaign of strikes targeting energy infrastructure in March.
Serhiy Kovalenko, the CEO of energy supplier Yasno, warned in June that Ukrainians may have electricity for just 6-7 hours per day in the winter, depending on how much of the grid can be repaired.
Shmyhal told reporters that it was impossible to say how many hours of blackouts Ukrainians are going to endure during the winter.
"It is wrong to make predictions and make sensational statements," Shmyhal said.
"Today, 85% of the facilities that should be protected by Ukrenergo (Ukraine's state grid operator) are already protected," he said.
According to Shmyhal, the Ukrainian government has allocated Hr 19 billion ($461 million) for the protection of energy facilities, and another Hr 13 billion ($315 million) has been provided by foreign partners.
Maxwell Kushnir
