INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy grid have destroyed half of its electricity generation capacity since the winter, leading to scheduled
power outages and regular blackouts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday."As a result of the strikes of Russian missiles
and drones, nine gigawatts of capacity have already been destroyed
The peak of electricity consumption last winter was 18 gigawatts
So half now doesn't exist," Zelensky told a conference on reconstructing Ukraine in Berlin.He also urged Kyiv's Western allies to supply
more air defense systems, saying that "it is missile and bomb terror that helps Russian troops advance on the ground.""Air defense is the
answer," Zelensky said.Ukraine's state-owned energy provider Ukrenergo said it was extending scheduled outages around the country because of
increased consumption."Today..
to 11:00 p.m.," Ukrenergo said in a statement.On Monday, the company announced outages between 4:00 pm and 10:00 p.m., while adding that
there would be outages on Tuesday between 2:00 p.m
and 7:00 p.m."The reason is that consumption continues to grow
At the same time, due to extensive damage, Ukrainian power plants cannot produce as much electricity as before the attacks," Ukrenergo
said.Zelensky said the strikes showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to "hone the practice of destroying energy facilities"
including connections between the Ukrainian and European energy systems.Ukrenergo Chairman Volodymyr Kudrytsky said last week that it may
take "years" for Ukraine to restore its full generating capacity."We are dealing with an absolutely unprecedented scale of destruction," he
said, adding that the capacity of thermal power plants was at a "historic" low with "virtually no hydroelectric power plant that has not
been damaged.""It is technically impossible to restore these damaged power plants quickly
It will take time: weeks, often months, sometimes years," he said in an interview published on Ukrenergo's Telegram channel.
