Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said Ukraine is better prepared for Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure this year than it was last winter.
He made the comments at an event held as part of the Yalta European Strategy forum, organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, according to a correspondent for LIGA.net.
Koretskyi said winter was undoubtedly the main challenge the country was preparing for. He said the government had a resilience plan in place, was protecting energy assets and infrastructure, and was preparing decentralized means of sustaining life in Ukraine's regions, cities and oblasts, calling this the government's main task.
He noted that Ukraine's energy system remains under constant Russian shelling.
Lessons from last winter
Koretskyi said it was impossible to fully protect everything, but that Ukraine was significantly more prepared for the attacks than it had been last winter. He said conclusions had been drawn from the previous winter's experience.
He said it had already been said a hundred times, from every channel, that winter would be hard, and that he had nothing new to add to that. But he said Ukraine had no plan other than to get through the winter with dignity.
The Yalta European Strategy, known as YES, is an annual forum that brings together political, business and civic leaders to discuss Ukraine's future. It was founded by Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk.
Winter 2025-2026 among the hardest
Winter 2025-2026 was one of the most difficult for Ukraine's energy system, driven by massed Russian attacks combined with severe weather, including frosts as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius.
In autumn 2025, scheduled power outages returned to Ukraine after a long pause, as Russia resumed massive strikes on energy facilities.
Preparations for the coming winter
As of 1 August, almost 60% of residential buildings, more than 62% of social infrastructure facilities and more than 60% of boiler houses had been prepared for winter, Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure reported.
On 3 March, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council approved resilience plans for all regions except Kyiv. The capital's plan was added later, after a vote in the Kyiv City Council.
Resilience plans set out how regions maintain heating, water, electricity and other critical services during blackouts caused by Russian strikes.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko had said the resilience plans covering all of Ukraine's regions cost approximately 278 billion hryvnias.
