Ukrainian officials warn of winter-long electricity deficit from Health & Fitness Journal

©Health & Fitness Journal. FILE PHOTO: A vendor waits for customers at a small shop lit with candles during a power outage after critical civilian infrastructure was hit by Russian missile strikes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues December 5, 2022 in Odessa, Ukraine.

Kyiv (Health & Fitness Journal) – Ukrainian officials said on Friday the country’s power system had stabilized after the latest round of Russian airstrikes but warned a power shortage was likely to persist throughout the winter.

Eight waves of attacks, most recently on Monday, have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since mid-October, plunging much of the country into darkness while utility workers raced to complete repairs.

“We will say it openly – that we will live under constant electricity consumption restrictions this winter,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a government meeting.

He added that he is ordering his energy minister to ensure that critical infrastructure, medical facilities and the country’s defense industry receive electricity as a priority.

Shmyhal’s comments came hours after Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo, told reporters that current power generation “will be in deficit at least during the autumn-winter period.”

But he also credited Ukraine’s air defenses with softening the blow of the latest Russian attack wave and said the power system was returning to “a stable functioning regime”.

Kudrytskyi said more than 1,000 missiles and drones had hit energy infrastructure since October.