Today, it is impossible to say how many hours Ukrainians will be without power in the winter and whether there will be blackouts. The Russians have their own terrorist plans to destroy the energy infrastructure. Ukraine is preparing for this, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at the annual press conference.
"It will be clear in what conditions we will go through it as we move through this winter heating season. It is wrong to predict and make sensational statements today, and we will not do that," he said.
To ensure a stable winter, Ukraine protects energy facilities with the first and second levels of protection.
"The first level of protection is gabions with sand," he explained.
The second level is reinforced concrete structures that can withstand direct drone strikes and missile debris.
"Today, most of the facilities to be protected by Ukrenergo are 85% protected," he said.
Ukraine has allocated UAH 19 billion for this purpose, and another UAH 13 billion was provided by international partners.
Separately, gas and oil companies have arranged first- and second-level protection.
"And there's also active defence. Air defence. Infrastructure facilities are protected by Patriot, SAMPT-T, Hawk systems. All these things are coordinated with our military. They are protected by a common air defence system. And each facility is also protected by mobile groups, as well as individual facility air defence systems such as Gepard. And other means of anti-aircraft coverage of objects. In addition, we have protected each facility with electronic warfare," he said.