In the face of relentless Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the war-torn nation is turning to its Central and Eastern European neighbors to keep the lights on.
Over the past few months, Ukraine has been forced to implement consumption restrictions and rolling blackouts as Russian forces have ramped up attacks on the country’s power stations and transmission lines. However, Ukraine’s ability to import electricity from neighboring countries has been a lifeline.
Ukraine’s connection to the European power grid, which was hastily established just hours before the Russian invasion began in February 2022, has proven crucial. Initially, the connection was intended as a brief test, but it has remained in place as Ukraine severed ties with the Russian grid.
Since then, Ukraine’s electricity imports from Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have steadily increased. In June, these imports reached 858.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh), a 91% jump from May, according to Kyiv-based consultancy ExPro. Hungary has been the top contributor, accounting for nearly 42% of the total imports.
Slovak grid operator SEPS revealed that it has ramped up power exports to Ukraine, from just 2.6 GWh in 2023 to almost 40 GWh in the first five months of this year. However, both Hungary and Slovakia have refrained from providing military aid to Ukraine, as they maintain friendly ties with Russia.
The influx of imported electricity has enabled Ukraine to limit power cuts to specific hours of the day. But the country’s domestic power production has been dwindling. The Green Deal Ukraine think tank estimates that the country produced 96,800 GWh of power in 2023, down from 103,800 GWh in 2022 and 158,000 GWh in 2021, before the invasion.
Analysts warn that this decline in power supply is “eroding Ukraine’s defensive capabilities and directly threatening its security.” Maciej Bukowski, an analyst at the US-based Center for European Policy Analysis, said that the crippling of essential infrastructure “reduces civilian and economic resilience.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of targeting the energy sector “to influence and subjugate nations,” underscoring the strategic importance of maintaining a reliable power supply during the ongoing conflict.
