Ukrenergo did its part to prepare for Russian air strikes—Kudrytskyi

Kudrytskyi was commenting on recent accusations from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Ukrenergo failed to invest in minimizing the damage from enemy drone and missile attacks.

In the interview with NV, Kudrytskyi said he was surprised by the president’s criticism. He noted that Zelenskyy was originally asked about the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) launching a criminal probe into Kudrytskyi. The president, instead, shifted the focus to who was responsible for protecting the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

“Ukrenergo was the only energy company—and I believe it still is—that built dozens of anti-drone shelters for [power] transformers,” Kudrytskyi said.

“Unlike, for example, Energoatom [state nuclear power operator, currently under corruption investigation], which had not done this by the time I left and has not done it since. So, I’m not entirely sure what the president meant.”

Kudrytskyi added that four hours before Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrenergo disconnected Ukraine’s grid from Russia’s. Three weeks later, he said, the company linked it to the European grid.

“Being able to import electricity from Europe during the war prevented our system from collapsing,” he said.

He also expressed hope that Zelenskyy’s remarks were not intended to divert attention from those who should have overseen energy security, in particular former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, who served from 2021 until July 2025 and is now under investigation for alleged money laundering.

On Oct. 28, SBI agents detained Kudrytskyi in Lviv Oblast. He and businessman Ihor Hrynkevych, who is under investigation for supplying substandard clothing to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, were formally charged with defrauding Ukrenergo.

The former Ukrenergo chief rejected the allegations, saying he had signed only one document on behalf of the company and that there was no other evidence of his involvement in the scheme. He called the charges “absurd.”