Zelenskyy demands faster energy imports as Ukraine reels from power outages 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said imports of electricity and additional power equipment must be accelerated as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure have left the country reeling from its worst wartime energy crisis.

In a social media post on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the capital Kyiv and the Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions were particularly hard-hit by power outages linked to the intensified Russian strikes.

“We need to accelerate as much as possible the increase in electricity imports and the provision of additional equipment from partners,” he said. “All decisions for this are already in place, and the increase in imports must proceed without delay.”

The Ukrainian government has declared an energy emergency as the damaged power grid is meeting only 60 percent of the country’s electricity needs.

The situation has also been exacerbated by exceptionally cold temperatures, leaving families across Ukraine struggling to stay warm.

Since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022, Russia has routinely targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter, seeking to put pressure on Ukrainian leaders to agree to Moscow’s demands.

The United Nations and other observers have condemned this year’s Russian assault on Ukraine’s energy, stressing that children and the elderly are most vulnerable.

Russia’s attacks are “causing terrible human suffering”, NATO chief Mark Rutte said earlier this week, adding that the military alliance was “committed to ensuring that Ukraine continues to get the crucial support needed to defend today and ultimately secure a lasting peace”.

Thousands without power

Zelenskyy said 400,000 people were experiencing “difficulties with electricity” in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, after overnight Russian strikes.

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said three people were wounded in a Russian attack on a critical infrastructure facility in the city’s industrial district on Saturday.

“We’re talking about serious strikes on the system that keeps the city warm and lit,” he wrote on Telegram, adding that the system is “constantly operating at its limits”.

Each new strike, Terekhov added, means “maintaining a stable supply will become even more difficult, and recovery will be longer and harder”.

Authorities also said 56,000 families in the Bucha area outside Kyiv were without power after the latest Russian attacks.

Ukraine’s energy ministry has said most regions of Ukraine had electricity restrictions.

“Due to constant massive attacks by the Russian Federation, a state of emergency has been declared in the Ukrainian energy sector,” the ministry said.

Ukrainian negotiators in US

Meanwhile, Ukrainian negotiators arrived in the United States on Saturday for another round of talks with senior members of President Donald Trump’s administration, which has been pushing for a deal to end the nearly four-year conflict.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Zelenskyy’s office, said the delegation would meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.

“Ukraine needs a just peace. We are working to achieve results,” Budanov said in a post on the Telegram app.

Zelenskyy said the team’s main task in the US was “to present the full and accurate picture of what Russian strikes are causing” in Ukraine.

“Among the consequences of this terror is the discrediting of the diplomatic process: people lose faith in diplomacy, and Russian attacks constantly undermine even the limited opportunities for dialogue that existed before,” he said on social media.

“The American side must understand this.”

Ukraine and the US have drafted a 20-point peace proposal, but Russia has yet to comment on it as Washington’s efforts to end the fighting have so far failed to achieve an agreement.

The Russian government has made several demands over the past months, including territorial concessions and assurances that Ukraine won’t seek NATO membership.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy again blamed Moscow for a lack of progress. “Ukraine has never been and will never be a roadblock to peace, and it is now up to our partners to determine whether diplomacy moves forward,” he said.