Berlin [Germany], June 12: President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on allies to increase their air defence support to Ukraine to help protect his country's energy infrastructure.
Speaking on Tuesday at a conference in Germany on the reconstruction of Ukraine, Zelensky said that Russia has destroyed half of his country's electricity-generating capacity. Another seven Patriot missile systems, as well as other aerial defences, are needed to allow the military to shield Ukraine's urban centres from the storm of missiles, he claimed.
The two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin marks the start of a week of intense diplomacy for the Ukrainian president, which will also see him travel to the Group of Seven (G7) summit featuring his country's leading Western allies, and a peace summit in Switzerland.
The German hosts say it is bringing together 2,000 people from national and local politics, business and other areas, arguing that the task of supporting Ukraine's recovery is too big for governments alone.
Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid in recent weeks have forced energy companies to institute nationwide rolling blackouts.
Zelensky told the conference that, in the coming month, Ukraine needs equipment to repair heating and electricity plants that are currently out of action."This will allow us to respond to the situation here and now," he said.
Overall, nine gigawatts of electricity generating capacity have been destroyed - including 80 percent of thermal power and one-third of hydroelectric power - while the peak consumption in Ukraine last winter was 18 gigawatts, he noted. Energy, he said, continues to be "one of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's main targets".
Source: Qatar Tribune