Zelensky: $2 bln required to fix electric energy infrastructure

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Oct 2022 22:55
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Russia's retaliation against Kiev attacking the Crimean bridge has caused Ukraine to have reportedly lost an estimated $2 billion worth of electric energy infrastructure.

A view shows the city without electricity after critical infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks in Lvov, Ukraine October 10, 2022 (REUTERS/Roman Baluk)

Following a series of retaliatory strikes on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Bank on Wednesday that Kiev requires $2 billion in targeted credits to rebuild the country’s electric energy infrastructure.

"We need also targeted credits in the amount of $2 billion to rebuild the electric energy infrastructure after the destruction and to expand our export to Europe," Zelenski told the World Bank ministerial roundtable on support for Ukraine.

In 2015, 🇺🇦 blew up the electricity pylons, leaving Crimea without power & later they blocked the water supply (they wanted to punish Crimeans for their choice of 🇷🇺). Similar story in Donbass.

Now as part of Ukraine sits without power they scream "war crimes"? 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/gpVGXNfdGu
— from_kherson (@KhersonFrom) October 12, 2022

Electricity exports to the EU were halted on Tuesday after Russia struck some of the country's infrastructure and energy facilities. This caused major blackouts in most of Ukraine's cities, including Kiev.

Map of Ukraine’s grid network and electrical substations. Destroying these would effectively eliminate most of the electrical infrastructure. Nuclear energy would remain, but they only provides 20% of the total required power.

Cr @rybar_en pic.twitter.com/3Oi0RTMeVR
— LogKa (@LogKa11) October 12, 2022

On Monday, the Ukrainian energy ministry said in a statement on its website "Today’s missile strikes, which hit the thermal generation and electrical substations, forced Ukraine to suspend electricity exports from Oct. 11, 2022, to stabilize its own energy system."

According to Zelensky's office, Russian strikes were reported all across the country, particularly in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, Dnipro, Lvov, and elsewhere. Energy facilities were struck in (non-controlled parts of) Zaporozhye, Vinnytsia, Sumy, and Zhytomyr.

Earlier today, an air raid alert went off for the second time in Kiev, the administration of Kiev announced on Telegram. The first air raid alert sounded earlier in the morning.

Local sources also reported on Wednesday evening that explosions were heard in the Zhytomyr region, which is only about 140 kilometers (87 miles) west of Kiev.

So far, this is the third consecutive morning that air raid alerts go off in various cities across Ukraine.

Last Saturday, a truck was blown up on the motorway section of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula, which caused seven fuel tanks of a train traveling to the Crimean peninsula to go up in flames. Three people died as a result of the explosion, and two motorway sections of the bridge partially collapsed.

The political advisor to Ukraine's President, Mykhailo Podolyak, posted a message on Twitter, calling the blasting of the Crimea Bridge just "the beginning."

On October 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin held the Ukrainian security service responsible for the attack on the Kerch bridge, calling it an act of terrorism.

A day later, it was reported that explosions were heard all over Kiev.