Ukraine faces harsh winter with prolonged power outages, warns UN
The UN warns that in the winter, power outages in Ukraine will last from 4 to 18 hours daily, calling on world leaders to unite efforts to restore Ukraine's critical infrastructure. Data collected in June shows that 73% of the country's combined heat and power plants are not operational.
10:04 AM EDT, September 20, 2024
"National and international partners must work together to fully restore vital electricity infrastructure of Ukraine and ensure those responsible for its damage are held to account," according to the latest UN report.
Experts surveyed by the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) forecast that winter power outages will last from 4 to 18 hours daily.
The enormous problem of Ukraine and catastrophic consequences
This winter will be very tough. People across the country will likely experience regular power outages. Daniel Bell, head of HRMMU, said any new attacks leading to more prolonged outages could have catastrophic consequences. Bell stated that the consequences of the attacks will be lasting and require a comprehensive approach.
The report highlighted that the destruction of Ukraine's power system could have even more serious impacts in the winter than in the summer due to low temperatures.
Experts surveyed by HRMMU indicate that power outages in the winter period will last up to 18 hours daily due to the generation capacity deficit.
As of June 2024, 73% of combined heat and power plants were offline. While Russian attacks mainly targeted energy transmission facilities in the winter of 2022-2023, the primary targets have been energy generation facilities since March 2024. One major energy company cited in the report states that three times as many power plants were damaged in 2024 compared to the winter of 2022-2023.
