The upcoming winter promises to be difficult for Ukraine due to massive Russian missile strikes, which have destroyed a significant part of the country's energy infrastructure. Experts are already predicting long blackouts during the heating season, depending on the intensity of shelling and weather conditions.
Shutdown up to 12 hours
Gennadiy Ryabtsev, chief researcher of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, said in a commentary on Channel 24 that power outages can last from 8 to 12 hours a day, which will depend on air temperature and time of day. The most difficult situation is expected in the frontline regions, such as Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson and Sumy regions.
In large cities, such as Odesa, Dnipro and Kyiv, due to the high concentration of consumers, long-term outages are also predicted. Kyiv, as one of the main targets of Russian missile attacks, will probably suffer more than other regions.
Non-staff NPP stops
Oleg Popenko, head of the Union of Utility Consumers, notes that if Russia continues to strike substations, it could lead to shutdowns of nuclear power plants, causing more serious and longer outages.
According to him, if in the last heating season, periods without electricity could last 2-3 days, now, due to stronger damage to the power system and the lack of sufficient reserves, such interruptions can be extended to 5-6 days, which will also affect the supply of heat.
Optimistic forecast from the EU
Despite the pessimistic forecasts, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Maternova believes that, although the winter will be difficult, the situation will not become catastrophic. Ukrainians can expect difficult conditions, but, according to the ambassador, critical interruptions in the supply of electricity will be avoided.
People's deputy Serhiy Nagornyak also emphasized that turning off the lights in winter largely depends on temperature conditions and the intensity of shelling from Russia.
