Will 30-day ceasefire help restore Ukraine's energy sector? Expert's response
Illustrative photo: expert explained how the ceasefire will affect the restoration of Ukraine's energy sector (Getty Images)
A 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and the Russian Federation would change little for the energy infrastructure, states the Director of the Energy Research Center, Oleksandr Kharchenko, in a comment to RBC-Ukraine's YouTube channel.
According to him, if a long-term agreement is reached to prohibit strikes on energy infrastructure, it would have a significant impact on the situation.
"But if it's just 30 days, I don't really understand... From an energy perspective, 30 days is almost nothing. It's not even enough time to restore a substation," the expert explained.
At the same time, Kharchenko believes that a ceasefire could allow Russia to regroup and strengthen the protection of its facilities from strikes by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and Defense Intelligence.
"This is a pause, a chance to rethink how they protect their facilities and possibly reformat their defenses. They are looking for ways to counter our strikes, and I assume that in 30 days, they will find a countermeasure," he noted.
If this happens, such a pause could work in Russia's favor, Kharchenko concluded.
30-Day ceasefire
On the evening prior, US President Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the call, they agreed that the path to peace would begin with a ceasefire targeting energy and infrastructure, as well as "technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace."
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine supports the proposal for a pause in Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Power outages in Ukraine
Since the beginning of last spring, Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, targeting thermal power plants, hydroelectric power stations, and transformer substations. Missiles and Shahed kamikaze drones were used in the strikes.
As a result, in 2024, Ukraine implemented scheduled power outages for a significant period.
