KYIV, Jan 17 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that he had ordered imports of electricity and additional power equipment to be accelerated as much as possible as Ukraine confronts its worst wartime energy crisis.
The government has declared an energy emergency as the system, damaged by relentless Russian strikes, is meeting only 60% of electricity needs. The situation is exacerbated by exceptionally cold temperatures.
“All decisions for this are already in place, and the increase in imports must proceed without delay,” Zelenskiy said in a post on X after a meeting with top government and military officials.
The energy ministry said scheduled power cuts were in effect in most regions. The situation was most challenging in and around the capital Kyiv, where residents faced long blackouts and dozens of apartment buildings were without heating as temperatures plunged to 16 Celsius (3 Fahrenheit).
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the government and the state energy company Naftogaz had discussed additional gas imports this year, but she gave no details on volumes.
Last year, Naftogaz imported 5.7 billion cubic metres of gas using state financing and funds provided by international partners, she said.
Ukraine was forced to start importing gas back in the spring of 2025, due to attacks by hundreds of Russian drones and missiles on gas production facilities.
Naftogaz said that Russia had struck its gas production facilities six times this week alone.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Toby Chopra and Kevin Liffey)
