Zelensky Sounds Alarm on Energy Crisis as Temperatures Plunge
Ukraine declares an energy emergency as Russian strikes leave millions without power. Kyiv faces -20°C cold, worsening the Ukraine power crisis.
Ukraine has declared a state of emergency in its energy sector, with a particular focus on Kyiv, as thousands of people remain without power due to relentless Russian attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of deliberately exploiting the harsh winter conditions as part of its war strategy, with nighttime temperatures in Kyiv recently plummeting to around -20C.
The announcement came as Zelensky's US counterpart, Donald Trump, suggested he was hindering efforts to reach a peace agreement to end the nearly four-year-old war with Russia.
He told Reuters news agency on Wednesday that Ukraine was "less willing to compromise" than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
When asked why peace talks had not yet resolved the conflict, Trump replied: "Zelensky."
Trump's assessment received approval from the Kremlin on Thursday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters: "President Putin and the Russian side are open [to negotiations]."
The US and Ukrainian leaders are expected to attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week, although Trump indicated that no formal plans had been made for them to meet.
In recent weeks, Russian attacks on Kyiv have left thousands of homes without regular electricity, heating, or water. Following a particularly heavy night of missile and drone strikes last week, 70% of the capital was without power for several hours.
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After a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Zelensky said a task force would be created to work around the clock to repair the damage caused by Russian attacks and worsening weather conditions.
He said the new measures would include purchasing critical energy equipment and resources from abroad to replace damaged installations.
"Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Energy has been tasked with overseeing the work to support people and communities in these conditions," he wrote on X. He also ordered an increase in the number of emergency aid points around Kyiv to provide residents with heat and electricity, a move that could ease the existing midnight curfew in the capital.
Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have not been limited to the capital.
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Last week, Ukrainian officials said that more than a million people in southeastern Ukraine were left without heating and water for hours as a result of Russian airstrikes.
Ukraine's largest private energy provider, DTEK, is in a constant state of crisis mode due to Russian attacks on the grid, its CEO, Maksym Timchenko, said last month. As the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion approaches, Timchenko said Russia has repeatedly targeted DTEK's energy grid with "waves of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles," and the company is struggling to cope.
He added that the intensity of the attacks was so high that "we don't even have time to recover."
DTEK currently supplies electricity to 5.6 million Ukrainians.
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