Half of the country's power generation has already been lost: Zelenskyy reiterates one of Putin's main targets in Ukraine

Energy is one of Russia's main targets in Ukraine. That is why it shells Ukrainian energy facilities. And so far, half of the country's energy generation has been destroyed by shelling.

This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the opening ceremony of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin. He noted that

• 9 GW of power has already been destroyed by Russian missiles and drones;
• the peak energy consumption in Ukraine last winter was 18 GW.

"One of Putin's main targets in Ukraine is energy. ... Ukraine is now suffering from the most destructive form of Russia's vision of energy as a weapon. ... Half of the (energy) sector does not exist anymore. ... 80% of thermal generation in Ukraine, one third of hydro generation have been simply destroyed by Putin. And this is not the limit of his terror, unfortunately," he said.

He emphasized that Russian leader Vladimir Putin uses energy resources, energy generation and energy consumption as a weapon not only against Ukraine. "Europe has repeatedly faced this," Zelenskyy reminded.

Putin is 'practicing' in Ukraine

At the same time, he noted, by striking Ukraine, Putin is "trying to hone the practice of destroying energy facilities" of various types: from conventional thermal power plants and dams to gas storage facilities and interconnectors, "which connect our energy system with the European one."

Thus, the President emphasized, Europe has to help Ukraine restore and protect its energy sector. After all, these facilities "will serve Ukraine and Europe as the energy foundation for the next decades".

"We have to start energy recovery. ... We must do everything possible and impossible to preserve the existing generation and restore what we have lost," Zelenskyy said.

At the same time, he clarified that Ukraine will not be able to restore the energy sector without investments from European partners. However, according to him, it is not about non-refundable grants, but about:

• investments for EU companies;
• loan programs.

These investments, according to Zelenskyy, will allow Europeans themselves to get a large market for their energy equipment. They will also create tens of thousands of jobs.

Russia has destroyed Ukraine's energy sector for tens of billions of dollars

At the same time, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), the damage and losses to Ukraine's energy sector as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion exceeded $56.2 billion:

• direct losses - more than $16.1 billion;
• indirect losses - $40.1 billion.

At the same time, the restoration of the destroyed infrastructure "much better than it was" requires $50.5 billion.

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