Ukrainian intelligence warns Russia planning to cause blackouts in Ukraine this fall

Russia is monitoring the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, and considering the option of carrying out strikes on it in order to plunge Ukraine into a blackout this fall, the representative of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, Vadym Skibitskyi, said in an interview with a journalist from the We Are Ukraine TV channel.

When asked whether the Russian occupiers are preparing to attack Ukrainian energy facilities, and whether Ukrainians should be afraid of a new blackout, Skibitskyi said: "They (the Russians - ed.) have started reconnaissance."

"I don't want to say that military intelligence knows everything, but we are monitoring all issues related to the Russian Federation's reconnaissance of our energy facilities, and I will tell you that they have started such work," said the representative of the HUR.

According to him, Russia is currently trying to find out the state of Ukrainian energy, as well as to identify critical objects that will affect the Ukrainian energy system in general, carrying out all types of reconnaissance, including space.

By the end of May 2023, Ukrenergo had restored 70% of the facilities damaged by the Russians.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, believes that only 20% of energy facilities will be restored by the next winter season, but even this will be enough.