In brief: President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply criticized Ukrainian officials over prolonged electricity outages in Bila Tserkva and Brovary, where residents went days without power despite misleading reports from local authorities. His warning came as DTEK chief executive Maxim Timchenko warned that Russia’s intensified missile and drone attacks could cause far greater damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this winter.
President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply criticized Ukrainian officials Friday, Nov. 13, after residents of Bila Tserkva and Brovary spent days without electricity while local authorities provided misleading reports.
In his evening address, Zelensky described the situation in the two cities in Kyiv region as “absolutely unacceptable,” revealing that he had confronted government officials during a coordination meeting over the prolonged outages.
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“Today, I had a tough conversation with government officials during our coordination call,” Zelensky said.
“The situation in Bila Tserkva and Brovary is absolutely unacceptable – when people were left without electricity not just for hours, but for several days. At the same time, reports from the ground were giving a different picture.”
“Problems must be solved. They must be addressed, not concealed,” he added.
The president demanded immediate action from officials responsible for restoring electricity, warning that failures by municipal services and individual companies must trigger swift responses.
His criticism comes as Russian forces intensify their assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, repeatedly striking power plants, substations and transmission lines as temperatures fall.
DTEK chief warns Russian attacks could devastate Ukraine’s power grid
In an interview with AFP published Friday, Maxim Timchenko, chief executive of Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, warned that Russia’s escalating missile and drone attacks could inflict substantially greater damage this winter than in previous years.
“The difference from the last year is that the scale of these attacks is much, much, much bigger,” Timchenko told AFP.
He said Russian forces were now concentrating enormous firepower on individual energy facilities, sometimes launching six or seven ballistic missiles, 25 cruise missiles and dozens of drones against a single power station.
According to Timchenko, Russia is using approximately twice as many ballistic missiles as in previous years, placing additional pressure on Ukraine’s already stretched air defenses.
Ukraine relies heavily on advanced Western systems, particularly US-made Patriot interceptors, to stop ballistic missiles. However, interceptor shortages have complicated efforts to defend critical infrastructure.
Russia has also expanded its targeting to electricity transmission lines and substations, Timchenko said, meaning that even operational power plants cannot always deliver electricity to Ukrainian households and businesses.
“Unfortunately they’re successful in these attacks,” he said.
The damage is increasingly difficult to repair. According to the DTEK chief, several power stations struck in recent weeks will remain offline until at least next summer, while others could take even longer to restore.
He warned that continued ballistic missile attacks could cause “much more significant” damage than last year.
Timchenko described Russia’s strategy as an attempt to create a “humanitarian disaster,” identifying Kyiv as an “obvious and primary target.”
Millions face another winter without reliable heating
Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has already suffered extensive damage from repeated Russian strikes, leaving millions vulnerable to prolonged electricity and heating outages during freezing weather.
Last winter, half of Kyiv’s apartment buildings were left without heating at one point as temperatures fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Millions of Ukrainians lost electricity, while others received power for only a few hours each day.
Residents who could afford generators or rooftop solar panels turned to alternative electricity supplies, while others resorted to sleeping in tents and sleeping bags inside their homes as indoor temperatures plunged.
Frozen water pipes burst in residential buildings, compounding the difficulties faced by families already struggling with power and heating shortages.
Timchenko warned that Russia’s increasingly concentrated attacks on power generation and transmission infrastructure threaten to make the coming months even harder.
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