Ukraine: Power outages affect critically ill patients 2:35
(CNN) --
The energy situation across Ukraine remains "really difficult" due to the constant risk of Russian bombing, Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said, warning that "maximum damage in the energy system".
Speaking to Ukrainian television on Tuesday, Halushchenko said that Ukraine intends to take advantage of the time between the Russian attacks to reduce the energy deficit by increasing electricity production and also electricity transmission capacity.
During the festivities, the risk of shelling could be higher, Halushchenko added.
"There is a feeling that (the Russians) have not refused to continue bombing our energy system. They are tied to certain dates. I think New Year is one of those dates when they will try to do maximum damage to the energy system." said.
"The situation is such that it is definitely difficult to plan anything, because we do not know the volume of possible future bombings and the amount of damage they will cause to the energy system."
advertising
"Russian Army Will Take Matters Into Its Own Hands": Russian Foreign Minister Gives Ukraine Ultimatum On 4 Occupied Regions
The Ukrainian state energy company Ukrenergo stated on Tuesday that the power deficit in the system had "decreased slightly due to the increase in production volumes of power plants", but that "the available capacity in the system is still not enough to meet all the needs of the country's consumers" because the level of energy consumption had increased at the same time.
"This is due to the gradual return to operation of the power grids that were damaged during the massive attacks, as well as the restoration of the energy infrastructure in the vacated territories," Ukrenergo said in a statement.
The number of consumers whose power supply has been restored, at least partially, has increased, and the volume of industrial consumption is also growing, said Ukrenergo.
During his late-night speech on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that some nine million people were still without electricity in different regions of Ukraine.
EnergyWar in UkraineNews from Ukraine