A person crosses the street during a power outage in Kyiv, Ukraine, 29 November 2024. Photo: EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Ukraine’s energy grid is at risk of collapse amid widespread Russian strikes this winter, potentially leading to a complete blackout in the east of the country, The Washington Post (WP) reported on Monday.
A new wave of Russian drone strikes which started in October is threatening to completely disable transmission systems that carry electricity from western to eastern Ukraine, effectively splitting the country’s power grid in two, officials and analysts familiar with the situation told the newspaper.
“We are, if not at the brink” of a complete blackout in the east of Ukraine “then very close to it,” a senior European diplomat told WP on condition of anonymity.
The strikes come amid increased pressure on Ukraine to accept a peace deal devised by Moscow and Washington, which would require Kyiv to make serious territorial concessions, including the withdrawal of Kyiv’s forces from the country’s eastern Donetsk region, where hostilities continue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukrainian citizens in November that the country faced “a difficult choice”, whether to accept the latest US peace plan or face “a very tough winter”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued its targeted airstrikes on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks. These have included two attacks on one of Russia’s largest oil refineries last week and three strikes on a Russian oil platform in the Caspian Sea over the past week.
According to WP, one solution proposed by Kyiv is an energy ceasefire, under which Ukraine would halt attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure in exchange for Russia ceasing strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid.
Zelensky said earlier in December that Ukraine was ready for such a ceasefire if Russia supported it. However, the Kremlin remains opposed to the idea, with Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, saying on Friday that Moscow wanted to “work for peace, not a ceasefire”.
