Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds briefing “Attacks on Energy Infrastructure: Harm to the Civilian Population”

On 19 September, a briefing for foreign diplomats and international organizations was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. State Secretary Oleksandr Bankov, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) Danielle Bell, and UNDP Resident Representative to Ukraine Jaco Cilliers attended the event, which was dedicated to the presentation of the HRMMU thematic report “Attacks on Energy Infrastructure: Harm to the Civilian Population”.

Oleksandr Bankov emphasized that russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure pose a serious threat to national security, with catastrophic consequences for civilians and critical infrastructure. This would significantly increase the risk of a humanitarian disaster and exacerbate social tensions.

The State Secretary stressed that energy security is one of the key priorities of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace formula, on which Ukraine is working tirelessly with international partners.

Oleksandr Bankov thanked all foreign partners for their assistance, particularly in the energy sector, and noted that Ukraine remains in urgent need of a stable and uninterrupted of modern air defence systems and other weapons to protect its territory, citizens, and critical infrastructure.

He also called on the international community to take decisive action to put an end to the aggression and to provide Ukraine with the military assistance it needs.

Presenting the HRMMU’s report, Danielle Bell noted that in the HRMMU’s assessment, the number of regions affected, the coordination of attacks, the precision of the weapons used and the scale of damage to civilians, all point to the systematic nature of these acts.

There is also reason to believe that many aspects of the large-scale armed aggression aimed at damaging or destroying Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, particularly energy infrastructure, violate fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.