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Transcript/Script
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: UKRAINE WINTER ENERGY
HEADLINE: As Another Winter Sets in, Ukraine’s Power Grid Braces for Intense Russian Attacks
TEASER: Ukrainian energy officials say they’ve implemented new safeguards with lessons learned from last winter’s intense Russian attacks on the power infrastructure
PUBLISHED AT: 12/4/2023 at 8:30am
BYLINE: Anna Chernikova
DATELINE: Kyiv
VIDEOGRAPHER: Eugene Shynkar
PRODUCER: Rod James
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA ORIGINAL, Energoatom
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:36
VID APPROVED BY: pcd
TYPE: TV/R
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[A second wartime winter has arrived in Ukraine and the country is working to make sure this one is not as difficult as last year’s, when Russian shelling caused severe damage to the power grid and heat delivery systems. Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv.]]
((NARRATOR))
In 2022, Ukraine endured heavy damage to its energy infrastructure due to intense Russian shelling.
Officials say about 50% of the energy infrastructure was hit, leaving millions of Ukrainians without heat and power for parts of the winter.
Oleksandr Harchenko, director of Ukraine’s Energy Industry Research Center, expects Russian forces to increase their attacks on the power grid and other targets again this year as temperatures plunge.
((Oleksandr Harchenko, Director, Energy Industry Research Center – MALE IN ENGLISH))
“I think they [Russian forces] are waiting [for a] good, for them, time and they believe that this good time is cold weather. And they are waiting [for] a really cold weather to start these attacks again.”
((NARRATOR))
Harchenko says Ukraine has drawn lessons from last winter.
((Oleksandr Harchenko, Director, Energy Industry Research Center – MALE IN ENGLISH))
“We survived and we spent this time in between, these seven to eight months, to restore our system with a very deep focus on physical defense, air defense, restoration of service capabilities of the system for the people.”
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory courtesy: Energoatom))
Petro Kotin, the president of Energoatom -- Ukraine’s largest power producer -- says this winter, the country is ready to generate and distribute power at full capacity
((end courtesy))
despite Russian rocket attacks.
((Petro Kotin, president of Energoatom – MALE IN ENGLISH))
“All nine units we expect to be on the grid, and we increased the protection of these units, physical protection I mean.”
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory courtesy: Energoatom))
Due to wartime security restrictions, officials are unable to disclose details of those protection measures.
Kotin told VOA that while fighting this winter’s challenges, Ukraine has also begun to implement a long-term energy security strategy.
The country wants complete independence from Russian nuclear fuel used for its Soviet-era VVER-440 reactors.
In September, fuel supplied by the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Company was loaded onto one of the reactors for the first time. The plan is for it to replace Russian fuel completely in the near future.
((end courtesy))
((Petro Kotin, the President of Energoatom – MALE IN ENGLISH))
“VVER-440, it's like 16 reactors throughout Europe, and all of them are operating on the Russian fuel. // And we started this process just to load Westinghouse fuel to these small reactors, VVER-440.
((NARRATOR))
While Ukraine aims to achieve full energy independence from Russia, its main concern now is to survive another winter as the Russian shelling of critical infrastructure intensifies.
((ANNA CHERNIKOVA, VOA NEWS, KYIV))
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Kyiv
Embargo DateDecember 4, 2023 08:54 EST
BylineAnna Chernikova
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
