Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that he had ordered the acceleration of imports of electricity and other energy equipment "as much as possible" to alleviate the worst energy crisis since the start of the war with Russia.
The government has declared a state of emergency in the energy sector because the system is only meeting 60 percent of electricity needs after the Russian attacks, and the situation is being exacerbated by very low temperatures, Reuters reports.
"All decisions for this have already been made, and the increase in imports must continue without delay," Zelensky wrote on Iks after a meeting with government and military officials.
The Ministry of Energy announced that planned power outages are in effect in most regions, with one of the most severe conditions in Kyiv.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said the government and state energy company Naftogaz had discussed additional gas imports this year.
Naftogaz imported 5,7 billion cubic meters of gas last year with state funding and funds provided by international partners, she said.
Ukraine had to start importing gas in the spring of 2025 due to too many attacks by the Russian military on its production facilities.
Naftogaz said Russia had attacked its gas production facilities six times this week alone.
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