In the three months I have been in Ukraine, there have been power outages, sometimes lasting several hours, but together with the authorities, we are considering scenarios that could range from eight hours or more, up to 16 hours,” said the UN representative in Ukraine, Matthias Schamale. “The destruction (of energy production facilities) has been greater than in the last two winters,” he explained to the international press in Geneva.
He stated that despite efforts, the damaged infrastructure has not been sufficiently rebuilt and there are fears of what would happen if Russia insists on its attacks against this sector, which combined with the onset of winter could lead to new population displacements, both within and outside the country.
In any case, Schamale said he is concerned about people living in high-rise buildings in cities because they will be very difficult to heat and local authorities are already preparing shelters for the cold, where people can warm up and receive a hot meal.
The humanitarian chief recalled that attacks on energy production plants are prohibited in wartime because they are civilian infrastructures, as they provide the population with gas and electricity for heating, cooking, or for the operation of potable water distribution systems, as well as hospitals and other essential services. “If there are more significant attacks affecting what has been repaired, the situation will be much worse,” he acknowledged.
In any circumstance, Schamale commented that the most catastrophic scenario would be if there were an attack that reached, intentionally or not, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (one of the largest in Europe), which produces a considerable portion of electricity, along with the nuclear radiation that it would generate, with unpredictable consequences.
“Unfortunately, we have considered this possibility, and that is why we asked Russia not to carry out attacks near this facility,” he said. Schamale also emphasized the terror that has been affecting the population from frequent drone attacks, with civilians reporting how these devices are capable of tracking them.
Ukraine is facing its worst winter since the start of the Russian invasion, not because of forecasts that the winter will be especially harsh, but due to the destruction of 65 percent of the energy infrastructure in recent months, which has forced the planning of electricity interruptions of at least eight hours a day, although they could be longer, the UN said this Friday. “We are working with various scenarios. There has been a lot of destruction, but there have also been repairs.
