Ukraine better prepared for winter energy strikes than last year, PM tells YES forum
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky told the YES 2026 conference in Kyiv that Ukraine is significantly better prepared for Russian attacks on energy infrastructure than last winter, while warning that full protection is impossible and the coming months will be difficult. He outlined contingency planning and decentralized support for regions and said the government must prepare for a prolonged war, even if a ceasefire is reached.
Key points
- PM Serhiy Koretsky said Ukraine is significantly better prepared for Russian attacks on energy infrastructure than last winter.
- He made the remarks at the Yalta European Strategy (YES 2026) meeting in Kyiv.
- Koretsky said full protection of energy infrastructure is impossible and that winter will be difficult.
- The government is preparing plans B, C and a worst-case scenario, plus decentralized systems to support regions, cities and oblasts.
- He described Russia's current and winter campaign as a kind of 'blitzkrieg' aimed at pressuring Ukraine.
- Koretsky said the scale of Russian strikes and destruction has multiplied over the past two months and the economy is already in its most difficult state.
- He warned the war could be long even if a ceasefire is reached, citing his experience leading Naftogaz during last winter's attacks.
Why it matters
The statement frames Ukraine's official posture going into the winter energy-attack season, signaling how the government itself judges its preparations. It simultaneously acknowledges the limits of what can be protected, outlines contingency and decentralized planning, and frames the conflict as a long one even under a ceasefire — setting expectations for Ukrainian citizens, donors and partners about the scale of winter support Ukraine is likely to need.
What happened
Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy (YES 2026) meeting in Kyiv, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky said Ukraine is significantly better prepared for Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure than during the previous winter. He cautioned, however, that it is impossible to fully protect all energy facilities and that the coming winter would be difficult. Koretsky said the scale of Russian strikes and the resulting destruction had multiplied over the past two months and that the economy was already in its most difficult state.
He said the government was preparing contingency scenarios — plans B, C and possibly a worst-case option — and was building decentralized systems to keep regions, cities and oblasts functioning, calling this the main task. He described Russia's current and winter campaign as a kind of "blitzkrieg" intended to pressure Ukraine, and argued that the country must prepare physically and mentally for a long conflict, even if a ceasefire is reached, because history showed the threat would not simply disappear. He cited his experience leading Naftogaz of Ukraine during last winter's attacks as informing the government's approach, and said Ukraine had sufficient resources and readiness to overcome the challenges ahead.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All three supplied sources are Ukrainian outlets — Interfax-Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda and NV — and they uniformly center the prime minister's statement, using it to project confidence in government preparedness while honestly acknowledging the difficulty of the coming winter. Ukrainian coverage highlights the contingency planning (plans B, C, decentralized regional support) and the prime minister's personal Naftogaz experience as credibility markers. The framing balances a resilience message with warnings that the economy is already in its most difficult state and that the war's duration remains uncertain.
Background
Koretsky said he draws on his experience leading Naftogaz of Ukraine during last winter's wave of attacks on energy infrastructure. On August 5, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council reviewed implementation of comprehensive resilience plans for regions and approved a resilience plan for Kyiv, whose implementation has begun. Kyiv city authorities acknowledged in August 2026 that the capital was only 50% prepared for winter.