US ‘is working with Ukraine to protect its energy infrastructure’ from feared Russian winter attacks
The United States is actively looking for effective ways to protect Ukraine from another Russian winter campaign to destroy the country’s energy infrastructure, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a video briefing on Nov. 13.
"We will talk about the war in Ukraine, and how we can best defend Ukraine,” Miller said.
“We’re always looking for ways to assist Ukraine to ensure its security."
Miller stressed that the White House will not make decisions that affect Ukraine without the active participation of and coordination with the Ukrainian government.
He said that taking into account the potential for Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy sites in the winter period, the United States is discussing with the Ukrainian government the steps to prepare for such scenarios, strengthening its infrastructure in advance.
In particular, Miller said, U.S. assistance in these crucial tasks was discussed during talks on the morning of Nov. 13 between U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Andriy Yermak.
From October 2022, Russia launched a months-long campaign of mass missile attacks on the Ukrainian electricity grid and on heat infrastructure in an effort to deny Ukrainian citizens heat and power during the cold winter months.
About 50% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the Russian missile attack campaign, and Ukrainians endured regular blackouts for most of the winter.
However, Ukraine’s national grid did not collapse entirely, and the Russian campaign, having failed, petered out towards the end of the winter in 2023, the Russians having used up much of their stockpile of missiles.
There has been a marked decrease in Russian missile attacks in recent months, and many in Ukraine fear that the Kremlin has been building up a fresh stockpile of missiles for another winter bombing campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
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