We must prepare for Russia to attack our energy sector in winter - Zelenskyy

This is stated in the video address of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released on Sunday, 30 July, after the meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Ukraine in Ivano-Frankivsk.

"Russian aggression has gone bankrupt on the battlefield. Today is the 522nd day of the so-called special military operation, which the Russian leadership expected to last for a week or two. Ukraine is getting stronger. Gradually, the war is returning to Russian territory, to its symbolic centres and military bases. And this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process," the Ukrainian President said.

"But we must be aware that, just like last year and this winter, Russian terrorists can still attack our energy sector. At critical facilities. Today we have discussed with the communities the current state of preparation for all possible scenarios," Zelenskyy added.

In particular, the meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities discussed preparations for the heating season in those cities and regions of Ukraine that are most affected by Russian strikes.

"Odesa and our southern regions. Kharkiv. The regions of the west of our country. Northern border regions. It is very important that local authorities across the country right now in the summer and in September are as active as possible in everything that needs to be done before the cold months of the year," Zelenskyy said.

Russians are conducting reconnaissance

Russian intelligence is studying the state of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and is trying to identify critical energy facilities in our country, said Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.

"We are monitoring all issues related to the reconnaissance of our energy facilities by the Russian Federation. They have started this work," he said.

According to Skibitsky, the enemy uses various types of intelligence, including space intelligence.

"The purpose of such actions of the Russians is to find out the state of the Ukrainian energy sector and identify those critical facilities that generally affect the energy system of our country," the statement said.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 270 hits to energy infrastructure facilities have been recorded, some of which are beyond repair.