Ukrainian troops were prepared for a new Russian offensive in the border areas of the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said today , quoted by Reuters, writes bTA.
„Ukraine met them with troops: brigades and artillery,” he said at a press conference. However, Zelensky warned that Russia could send reinforcements.
At least two civilians have been killed in Russian attacks, including increased bombing, in border Ukrainian villages in the Kharkiv region, local authorities said.
One person died in Vovchansk and five were injured. One person was killed in a neighboring village, announced the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleg Sinegubov.
In the summer, Ukraine can expect power outages due to recent Russian strikes on energy infrastructure and increased consumption, as well as the campaign to repair nuclear power plants, the head of Ukraine's power grid operator “Ukrenergo” said.
Since the end of March, the Ukrainian energy sector has been subject to massive Russian missile and drone attacks, which have led to power outages in many regions and raised the question of the decentralization of production facilities.
"We will definitely face challenges in the summer, and these challenges will be mostly related to the lack of capacity due to power plant failures," said the head of "Ukrenergo".
After the latest attacks against the energy system “Ukrenergo“ imposed restrictions on the supply of electricity to industrial users, and the government urged the population to conserve electricity.
„Ukrenergo“ said Ukraine plans to import 13,904 megawatt hours of electricity today, up from 16,699 megawatt hours yesterday.
The statement said that in the morning Ukraine received emergency aid from EU countries, and during the day it expects to import electricity from Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Moldova.
Ukrainian government officials said the country has lost about 80% of its thermal power generation capacity, increasingly relying on the three nuclear power plants that produce about 60% of electricity.
The production of thermal and hydroelectric power is necessary to maintain a balance between demand and supply during the peak hours of energy consumption in the morning and evening.
Kiev expects its first F-16 fighter jets to be delivered in June-July, Reuters reported, citing a senior Ukrainian military source.
Ukraine wants the US-made warplanes to neutralize Russian air superiority in the more than two-year war.
The source did not specify who will deliver the planes.