Ukraine better prepared for winter than last year, PM says, but warns of hard months ahead

Why it matters

Koretsky's interview sets the government's official line on Ukraine's ability to withstand a renewed Russian campaign of strikes on energy and communications infrastructure. It quantifies the concrete measures taken ahead of winter — added generation, backup power, equipment reserves, repair crews and drone interceptors — that will determine how severe blackouts and outages may be. It also underlines diplomatic dependence on European partners for emergency rescue assistance and frames the longer-term threat to digital infrastructure as one that will last for the duration of the war.

What happened

Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky told the national telethon Yedyni Novyny on Sunday 27 September that Ukraine is better prepared for the coming winter than it was last year. He cited more generating capacity built during the year, additional backup power supplies at critical infrastructure facilities, stronger physical protection of those facilities, larger reserves of equipment and spare parts, and more repair crews and equipment. Koretsky said the government's "Resilience Plans" approved before winter were overly ambitious when adopted, but that their ambition allowed the energy system to be significantly strengthened even without full implementation.

At the same time, Koretsky warned that Russia has improved its strike capabilities, specifically mentioning reactive Shahed-type drones and the accumulation of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles for winter attacks. He stated bluntly that the season "will definitely not be easy, but we have no option other than to endure." Ukraine has already appealed to European partners to provide emergency services — rescuers with equipment and personnel — in case of need. The government is also scaling up domestic production of interceptor drones, simplifying conditions for manufacturers and increasing financial support through credit instruments.

On digital infrastructure, Koretsky said threats from Russia will persist until the war ends. He said protection of critical digital systems must include redundancy — placing infrastructure underground, in the cloud, or abroad, or some combination — and that planning proceeds from the worst-case scenario. Between 23 and 25 September, Russian strikes damaged data centers of Kyiv internet providers UTELS and Pavutyna and the all-Ukrainian operator Datagroup. On 25 September, following a Staff meeting, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced decisions to protect critical communications infrastructure.

Background

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said on 24 September that Ukraine had received two documents detailing Russia's specific plans for winter strikes on the energy sector, including complex attacks on heat, water, sewage, generation and interconnectors, with separate plans for large cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa. UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said Ukraine faces the "hardest winter" since the start of the full-scale invasion and warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if massive attacks on energy infrastructure continue. President Zelensky told US President Donald Trump on 22 September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that he hoped the war could be ended before winter. Zelensky said on 23 September that Russia will face a difficult winter if it strikes Ukraine's energy system.