KYIV, Ukraine—Moscow’s renewed attacks on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure this winter have heightened scrutiny over the Ukrainian Energy Ministry’s failure to protect the country’s most critical energy facilities near nuclear power sites.
In this image provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire following a Russian missile attack on the country’s energy system in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Dec. 25, 2024.
Only in the fall, after Ukrainian intelligence agencies warned of potential Russian strikes targeting the nuclear switchyards, was action taken to begin building protection—far too late in the event of an attack, analysts said. And while Ukraine’s nuclear plants have backup emergency power systems, these “are designed to provide temporary support,” Fowler said. “Without functioning switchyards, the backup systems alone would not be sufficient to sustain operations or prevent safety risks during an extended outage.”
Following a government decree in July 2023, many state energy companies began immediately contracting to build first- and second-layer fortifications for their most critical power facilities. In the spring of 2024, the government repeated the urgent call to get the work done. Energy Minister Haluschenko gave reassurances the situation was under control and prioritized other projects, including lobbying for parliamentary approval for the construction of costly nuclear reactors that take up to a decade to build.
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