Russian forces continue to strike Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as a result of which partial power outages were recorded in nine regions. This was reported by First Deputy Minister of Energy Artem Nekrasov.
"As of the morning, part of the consumers in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Rivne, Sumy, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions are without power," Nekrasov noted.
In Poltava Oblast, four energy workers were injured as a result of Russian shelling. They are currently receiving the necessary medical assistance.
According to Nekrasov, energy workers continue restoration work. Emergency crews are working in an intensified mode, but their work is complicated by frequent air raid alerts.
He recalled that hourly outage schedules have been introduced in most regions of Ukraine, and power limitation schedules are in effect for industrial consumers.
"Due to continuous attacks, the situation with electricity supply can change rapidly during the day, sometimes even several times an hour," Nekrasov said, adding that the most up-to-date information is published by distribution system operators in their regions.
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First deputy head of the parliamentary Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services Oleksiy Kucherenko noted that it is currently impossible to make long-term forecasts regarding electricity supply in winter. According to him, the situation in the energy system can be planned only one day ahead.
He explained that the further development of events will depend on several key factors: the choice of targets for Russian attacks, the scale of the damage, the availability of the necessary equipment, and the speed of restoring the damaged infrastructure.
At the same time, Andrian Prokip, head of energy programs at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, warns of the risk of prolonged blackouts in large cities of Ukraine. According to his assessment, some of them could remain without electricity for up to two weeks, and the probability of such a scenario is quite high.