Massive hostile attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in January-March became the biggest challenge for Ukraine’s energy sector last year. However, Ukraine has learned from the experience to strengthen the resilience and flexibility of the energy system. This was stated by Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko in his wrap-up interview for the national telethon.

“The russians started their massive terror of the energy system on 10 October 2022. In January, February and March they continued their systemic attacks. It was the biggest challenge for all of us. But we showed resilience. We gained vast experience in how to keep the system running, what technical decisions to make during attacks, how to keep power generation going and how to quickly repair transmission. This is a unique experience that has no analogues in the world,” the Minister said.

The head of the Ministry of Energy stressed that these decisions were implemented in the energy strategy adopted after the massive attacks.

“The main conclusion is that we need to decentralise power generation,” the Minister explained, adding that the hostile attacks had the greatest impact on regions with limited local power generation. German Galushchenko also stressed that a number of projects had been implemented to strengthen the protection of energy facilities.

At the same time, the Minister noted that the enemy was not only attacking energy facilities, but also power engineers working in the field to restore electricity supply to consumers.

“The russians are classic terrorists. There have been numerous cases when they see a repair team coming to a facility, and when the vehicle arrives, the tower is raised, the russians start targeting the workers with artillery and drones,” he said, adding that human losses are the most painful because any equipment can be restored, but human lives can’t.