Ukraine much better prepared for energy attacks than last winter

Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi has said that Ukraine is significantly better prepared this year for Russian attacks on its energy sector than it was last winter.

Source: Koretskyi at the annual YES (Yalta European Strategy) meeting in Kyiv on 12 September, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "The energy sector is constantly under fire, and it's clear that it's impossible to protect everything fully. However, we are significantly better prepared for these attacks than we were last winter…

It's been said a hundred times over, through every channel, that the winter is going to be hard – I have nothing new to add there. But we have no plan other than to get through this winter and to get through it with dignity."

Details: In Koretskyi's view, Russia sees the current period and the coming winter as a kind of "blitzkrieg", but the government, through joint efforts and with partner support, is determined to get through this difficult period while solving tactical tasks and developing the state strategically.

Koretskyi stressed that lessons have been learned from last winter, including the preparation of decentralised means of delivering essential services to regions, cities and oblasts, which he said is the main task.

He said the government is drawing up both a Plan B and a Plan C, and possibly "the worst of all possible scenarios".

Koretskyi noted that Russian strikes and the resulting destruction have multiplied several times over in the past two months, so the economy is already in an extremely difficult state, but he said "there is enough optimism, enough strength and enough will in the team and everyone to overcome these difficulties".

The prime minister is also operating on the assumption that the war could go on for a long time and that even if there were a ceasefire, it could be broken – and he advises assessing the current situation with that in mind.

Quite: "We all want peace. Everyone wants peace to be achieved. But no one knows how long the war will last. So, firstly, with that in mind, we need to prepare for the long haul – both physically and mentally...

Even if a ceasefire is achieved, no one knows how long it will last: history repeats itself, and the enemy isn't going anywhere. So we need to lay foundations so that businesses can survive in the long term and learn from the mistakes or lessons the war is giving us."

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