Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv says energy needs are met following repairs to national power grid

Ukraine said that the energy needs of its citizens are being met following repairs to the country’s power grid. The repairs come amidst continued bombardment by Russian missiles of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and civilian targets.

Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said in a statement on Monday that the consumers’ energy needs are being met after emergency repairs were completed following the Russian attacks on the country’s energy facilities on Friday last week.

The national power grid operator Ukrenergo said additional power units were put into operation at several thermal power plants after the repairs were done.

The national power grid firm also said in a post on the Telegram messaging platform that hydroelectric power plants are operating intensively and that “increased daylight hours and clear weather favor generation from renewable energy sources.”

Meanwhile, the British defense ministry said in its intelligence bulletin on Tuesday that the Russian Wagner mercenary group has made small advances in the northern outskirts of the Donbas region, where heavy fighting is currently taking place in the town of Bakhmut as well as in the village of Krasna Hora.

The ministry noted that Ukrainian forces also maintain “organized defenses” in the area and the tactical advance by Russian forces in the southern Ukrainian territory likely showed little progress.

“In the north, the Kremina-Svatove sector of Luhansk Oblast, Russian forces are making continuous offensive efforts though each local attack remains on too small a scale to achieve a significant breakthrough. Russia likely aims to reverse some of the gains Ukrainian forces made over September-November 2022. There is a realistic possibility that their immediate goal is to advance west to the Zherberets river,” said the ministry.

The ministry said that the current operations by Russian forces suggest that they are ordered to advance in most parts but have not “massed sufficient offensive combat power on any one axis to achieve a decisive effect.”

The ministry said on Monday that Russian forces have also fortified defenses in the occupied Ukrainian territory of Zaporizhzhia.

Kyiv has warned that Russia may launch another offensive in the coming days in line with the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.