Ukraine's energy system has stabilised, no major power imports expected, ministry says

The Ukrainian energy system, severely damaged by Russian missile attacks in recent weeks, is now almost completely stabilised and the energy ministry said on Sunday no major imports were expected. Ukraine's electricity imports reached a record high at the end of March after a string of Russian missile strikes on critical infrastructure caused blackouts in many parts of the country.

The Ukrainian energy system, severely damaged by Russian missile attacks in recent weeks, is now almost completely stabilised and the energy ministry said on Sunday no major imports were expected.

Ukraine's electricity imports reached a record high at the end of March after a string of Russian missile strikes on critical infrastructure caused blackouts in many parts of the country. Since March 22, Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian thermal and hydropower stations as well as main networks on an almost daily basis, which has led to the blackouts.

Russian drones damaged the national grid company's high-voltage network facility in the eastern Kharkiv region overnight leading to some power cuts. Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, which lies some 30 km (20 miles) from the Russian border, has been bombed heavily during the 25-month war and has been badly affected as Russia has renewed missile and drone attacks on the energy system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he had special conversations with the heads of Security Service, Defence Intelligence and Interior Minister about the recent attacks on the city. "Russia does not stop its terror for a minute. We are working to provide our people with reliable protection. We are preparing a very specific and fair response to the enemy," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

The country's grid company Ukrenergo said later on Sunday that Russian drones had damaged the company's high-voltage network facility in the eastern Kharkiv region overnight and the system operator had to introduce some power cuts. "Today, Ukrenergo's dispatch centre has been forced to increase the volume of emergency power outages in Kharkiv and the region," the company said on Telegram.

However, the country's power system remains "stable and balanced," the energy ministry said in a statement. It said power exports were expected at 115 megawatt hours (MWh) on Sunday while imports could total 1,179 Mwh.

Ukraine imported a record 18,649 MWh on March 26. National grid company chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi told Reuters last week that Russian attacks had caused significant damage to the power system, but a total collapse was unlikely.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)