Zelensky warns of a difficult winter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that winter will be difficult due to Russia's probable attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector. At the same time, he urged local authorities and energy workers to be ready for the challenges and expect that the Russians may leave the population without heat and light for some time.

We must realise that there will be more Russian strikes like the one that hit Kherson on Sunday as winter approaches. More on generation facilities, on the network. We must be prepared for this. We have strengthened our air defence as much as possible, as far as it is realistic under the current conditions. And we are agreeing with our partners on steps in defence that have not been used before.

But apart from that, a lot will depend on the readiness of local authorities, particularly in cities, on the preparatory work of energy companies and telecom operators. Everyone must do their part of defence work so that the Russian terror this winter does not stop Ukraine, just as on the battlefield in all spheres we must be as stable and strong as possible," the President said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said at a government meeting that the readiness of the energy and utility infrastructure for the heating season was approaching 100 per cent.

He stressed that the authorities were preparing for possible challenges of the new heating season, in particular, the government adopted a resolution on the creation of an information service on the placement of indestructibility points in the Diya application.