Half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the war – European Commission President

Half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed since the start of the war.

This was stated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to BBC News.

This destruction is roughly comparable to the total power capacity of the energy systems of the three Baltic countries combined.

Von der Leyen intends to discuss the preparation of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for winter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv tomorrow.

“The heating season begins in two weeks. As the weather gets colder, the European Union is ready to increase its assistance to Ukraine. We are preparing for winter together,” von der Leyen said, as quoted by the BBC.

Since the start of the war, the European Union has provided Ukraine with more than 2 billion euros in aid to restore bombed power plants, transformers, and power lines.

Meanwhile, the UN, citing surveyed experts, reported that power outages in Ukraine this winter could last up to 18 hours. Experts warn that the winter will be “very difficult.”

Russia has destroyed about 9 gigawatts of production capacity, which is half of what Ukraine needs during the winter period.

As of June, 73% of thermal power plants were out of operation.

It was previously reported that Ukraine risks losing its nuclear energy capabilities this upcoming winter. The Russians are adapting their airstrike tactics, and the supply of Iranian ballistic missiles “Fateh-360” to Russia will aid in this effort.

At the same time, the Minister of Energy criticized experts who predict long power outages in winter. He assured that without new attacks on the energy sector, Ukraine would go through the winter “in normal mode,” but added that in the case of new strikes, it would be difficult to predict the situation.