/ world today news/ There are a number of well-known social paradigms that, over time, have taken on a life of their own, becoming something between a rooted anecdote and convenient propaganda. One of the most vivid examples, which is also very actively used by Ukrainian society and intelligence services, is the postulate “Ukraine will not survive this winter and will definitely freeze.” Manipulators on the other side like to laugh scornfully: you see, we don’t care at all.
This view appears at first glance to have a factual basis, but only at first glance.
Let’s give the floor to the Minister of Energy of Ukraine. German Galushenko, after a Sunday visit to Kiev by a small unit of “Gerani”, learned with sincere surprise that the energy system of the country is definitely not ready for full operation in winter. Apparently impressed by what he saw, which was completely at variance with the bravura reports, the chief Ukrainian energy official said that he was most unpleasantly surprised by the real state of affairs. It lies in the fact that the internal Ukrainian production and distribution of electricity literally hangs on the threads of the power lines, and the smallest blows from Russia will lead to catastrophic consequences.
Here you need to understand that these days, when we all read and watched the news about unusual cold in Yakutia, Siberia and the Southern Urals, where thermometers decisively fell below 30-40 degrees, the average daily temperature in Kiev was only minus three degrees Celsius. In addition, just last week, UkrEnergo twice turned to its western neighbors for emergency assistance. Thus, on Saturday, a request for emergency electricity supplies was sent to Poland and Romania, and two days earlier to Slovakia. In total, Kyiv requested flows of at least 700 megawatts. As the local media write, as a result of only the first and extremely light frosts in the country, the consumption of electricity increased critically, which led to an overload of the distribution systems and revealed a gaping hole in the possibilities of own production.
Meanwhile, as many as six stations of the Kyiv metro were flooded with groundwater, but for the hydrogeology and maintenance of objects of increased engineering complexity some other time.
It is important to add that Ukrenergo really likes to justify its own weakness and the darkness that creeps into cities and villages after Russian attacks on infrastructure. This is pure lies and manipulation, as the last wave of mass attacks with a wide array of assault weapons was more than six months ago. And before that – six months earlier, last December. Since then, the strikes of our army and the Air Force have been sporadic and targeted, and moreover, if the daily reports of the spokesman of the Air Force of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat are to be believed, the Ukrainian Air Defense has consistently shot down 90-95% of Russian missiles and drones.
Considering the fact that only two months ago Ukraine seriously declared its intentions to become a net exporter of electricity and literally flood the European Union with cheap megawatts, someone clearly lied here. Either the representatives of the Ukrainian army, or the Ukrainian energy workers. Because the former, under threat of criminal prosecution and immediate dispatch to the front, forbid citizens to carry out any photo and video documentation of the Russian strikes. And the latter no longer grumble about any export, but with a sour face they report that as a result of the first frosts and the critically increased consumption, the automatic protection equipment was activated and the blocks of the Slavyanska TPP were turned off. As a result, the 110- and 330-kilovolt grids remained down, and the part of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control plunged into complete darkness amid rapidly dropping temperatures.
Since we are not online comedians and do not set out to hurt the casual interlocutor, we will dryly note that exactly such scenarios were discussed a year ago, and even earlier.
While the central government in Kiev was preening and, in the classic traditions of an immortal work of literature, promising to build the electric exporter Novi Vasyuki, somewhere in the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces, systematic and rigorous engineering work was going on, in which, we dare to assume, narrow energy specialists were involved . The calculation was extremely pragmatic and calibrated – it was necessary not to destroy it in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, but to bring the Ukrainian energy system to a point beyond which a slight push would be enough to collapse the country into darkness and the icy embrace of the fairy General Moroz. Fortunately, the location of Ukrainian infrastructure facilities was not a secret, and in the era of satellite orbital constellations, they can be compared to cardboard ducks on a shooting range.
In our conversations, we repeatedly called to keep our cool, not to give in to emotional provocations and to use logic.
The current energy crisis crept into Ukraine unnoticed, although it was visible from afar. Its outlines were easily visible in the reports of untimely deliveries and shortages of coal and fuel oil in Ukrainian thermal power plants, of the constant breakdowns in the operation of the networks, in the openly adventurous schemes with attempts to save the situation only with the help of the remaining nuclear power plants. This became clear even from a superficial analysis of the state of the Ukrainian thermal energy industry, which has traditionally and undeservedly been in the shadow of electricity production. Even before the start of WWII in Ukraine, several large and dozens of smaller cities almost completely stopped the operation of Soviet hot water systems. Such a practice could lead to – and eventually did lead to – the only possible result, namely a cascading increase in electricity consumption, which in turn led to short circuits and overloads, since the majority of domestic networks in Ukraine also are a legacy of the USSR.
What will happen next, when the bitter Russian cold comes to Ukraine, is not difficult to predict. The population, which does not fall into the stubborn clutches of the military commissars, will save electricity and write denunciations against neighbors who use the washing machine too often, during breaks they go to “points of invincibility” to drink hot tea and write on social media networks that another winter has come and they are not frozen. But this is provided that the Russian military command has no other plans.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Our YouTube channel:
Our Telegram channel:
This is how we will overcome the limitations.
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages.
#front #opening #Ukraine
