EU, South Korea Working to Supply Ukraine With Power

As Ukraine faces continued Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, aid from the European Union and South Korea may help the war-torn country's efforts to mitigate power shortages and blackouts.

The board head of Ukraine's national power grid operator Ukrenergo said Friday that work was underway to enable electricity deliveries of 500 and even 600 megawatts from Europe, Liga.net reported.

"Special mechanisms are needed to guarantee these imports, since the price of electricity in Europe is higher than in Ukraine," Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said. At the same time, Kudrytskyi suggested that "hardly anyone" in Ukraine would want to purchase European electricity on general commercial grounds because of high prices.

Oleksandr Kornienko, first deputy chairman of Ukraine's parliament, also announced Friday that South Korea would provide 20 high-voltage generators and five mini-excavators. A charter flight is scheduled to deliver the generators December 12, though a date has not been set for delivery of the mini-excavators, the Rada said in a release.

Kornienko said in a statement that Ukraine greatly appreciates "the support that [South] Korea has already provided and is planning to provide."

Russia began a series of strikes on Ukraine's power infrastructure in October, spurring concerns for the country's power supplies in the cold winter months. This week, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., accused Russia of trying to "freeze the country into submission" after facing setbacks in its ongoing Ukraine offensive.

She warned that the Russian strikes could leave millions of Ukrainians without proper access to power, heat and water during winter, and that the "most vulnerable will pay the heaviest price."

Ukrenergo said Friday that after a wave of Russian strikes on Wednesday triggered blackouts across the country, the nation's power deficit was at 30 percent. The company wrote on Telegram that restoration work in the wake of the attacks was taking place "around the clock."

"Work continues to restore power to household consumers," Ukrenergo said. "The pace of recovery is slowed by difficult weather conditions: ... strong wind, rain and sub-zero temperatures at night ... as well as icing and gusts ... in the distribution networks."

Ukrenergo encouraged Ukrainians to consume electricity "sparingly."

Though Russia may be working to degrade energy supplies for Ukrainian civilians during the coldest months of the year, its own troops may not be immune from the adverse impacts of fighting a war during winter.

Sean Spoonts, a U.S. Navy veteran and editor-in-chief of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek that Russia is not equipped to provide simple accommodations like good winter clothing and protect its troops from frostbite. Failing to do so "will cause all kinds of casualties" and "degrade the efficiency" of Russia's army, Spoonts said.

Newsweek has reached out to Ukrenergo for further comment.