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Zelensky: Preparations underway to protect Ukraine's critical infrastructure through winter

by The Kyiv Independent news desk September 9, 2023 3:35 PM 2 min read
Transmission towers and power lines near a missile damaged high-voltage electricity sub-station, operated by a state-owned company Ukrenergo, in central Ukraine, on March 1, 2023. (Photo by: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 9 that plans are being implemented to protect Ukraine's energy and critical infrastructure from Russian missile and drone strikes through the winter.  

According to Zelensky, these plans are being coordinated with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Energy Ministry, Ukraine's state-owned energy companies Ukrenergo, Ukrhydroenergo, and Naftogaz, and the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

"All tasks have been assigned. Work is ongoing," Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine is also preparing to protect Odesa Oblast's ports and an established grain corridor to export its agricultural products abroad.

The Ukrainian navy set up a temporary corridor to protect merchant ships leaving Ukraine's waters since Moscow refused to extend the Turkey- and UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative in July.

Since then, Russia has been launching strikes against Ukraine's Black Sea ports and regional grain reserves.

Russian forces started targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure last fall, plunging the country into widespread blackouts over the winter, causing millions of dollars in damage, and killing civilians.  

Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on Sept. 3 that Ukraine was strengthening its air defense to prepare for Russia's potential mass attacks on critical infrastructure facilities this fall.

Plans are also being implemented to protect Ukraine's front-line territories, Zelensky added.

Ukrainian energy company on Russia’s attacks on infrastructure: ‘No system in the world has faced the same’
Ukraine faces its most challenging winter as Russia relentlessly strikes its energy system to plunge the nation into cold and darkness. Since mid-October, Russia’s carried out five mass missile attacks that have damaged 40% of Ukraine’s energy system and made long power outages a new reality for ma…

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