By KYIV. Nov 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Russia will continue its attempts to destroy the Ukrainian power system, water and heat supply, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal predicts.
"As of this morning, water and electricity supply has been fully restored in Kyiv. In Kyiv region, most consumers have also been connected. In Cherkasy region, where electricity has almost completely disappeared, the situation has stabilized, people have electricity," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
The prime minister noted that yesterday’s attack is part of a larger, pre-planned Russian strategy to destroy the Ukrainian power system.
"And you and I must understand that strikes against our energy infrastructure will continue. There will be attempts to destroy both generation and distribution of electricity. There will be strikes against water and heat supply systems," he said.
According to the prime minister, now there are two modes of power outages for consumers.
"The first is a planned mode, when the power is turned off to stabilize the power system according to pre-planned schedules. We work together with power engineers to ensure that the schedules for such shutdowns are true and minimal," he said.
At the same time, Shmyhal stressed that one must understand that Russian terrorists do not follow the schedule of shelling when attacking Ukrainian infrastructure.
"Therefore, in fact, there is a second type of power outages – emergency ones. Emergency power outages cannot be foreseen and it is impossible to predict how long they will last. When a missile or drone hits an infrastructure facility, as a result, some consumers are urgently turned off," the prime minister stated.
He emphasized that in order to minimize planned outages, it is necessary to save electricity.
"Each of us must now accept this new reality and adjust to consume as little electricity as possible. Especially during peak hours in the morning and evening," he stressed.
Among other things, he said that the authorities continue to negotiate with partners to increase the supply of equipment for the restoration of infrastructure, as well as mobile power supplies and heating.
"Already 12 countries have agreed to help, and many have helped before. System operators of some European countries have been handing over equipment to Ukrenergo for the past eight months. Therefore, we have and will have reserves to restore everything that was destroyed," Shmyhal summed up.
