This winter could be the harshest since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, according to the Ukrainian prime minister.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal said at a press conference on Tuesday that the country’s defensive capability is the top priority of the new Government. “In this area, the key tasks are the production of armamentthe financing and construction of our fortifications,” he declared.
As kyiv prepares for a harsh winter of fighting with Moscow’s troops, who could carry out further incursions into Ukraine from the east, the construction of an additional line of defenses in the areas of Ukraine closest to the front line, Shmihal added.
“The project has been completed and significant funds, some 40 billion hryvnia (879 million euros) this year, have been allocated for the creation and construction of the third line of fortifications“he explained.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister said that the first and second lines were built by the Armed Forces with the budget of the Ministry of Defense. The third line, with concrete fortifications, was built with the State budget and the help of regional military administrations.
Shmihal also said that weapons production has doubled since 2023.
To prepare for another difficult winter, the civil energy infrastructure. The Government is working on the decentralization of the sectorfocusing first on the Kharkiv area.
“We have focused on [la ciudad de] Kharkiv and in the Kharkov region because we understand that the Russians have destroyed all thermal power plants around Kharkiv. So we’re bringing mobile boilers there, small one-megawatt boilers,” he explains.
This winter will be no less difficult than previous ones, perhaps even the toughest, the prime minister told reporters. According to Shmihal, they are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to restore civil and energy infrastructurebringing in energy equipment from around the world and restoring whatever capabilities can be restored.
Ukraine plans to get through this winter with domestically produced gas, he added. Shmihal’s plans are announced after the largest reshuffle of the kyiv government since Russia launched the large scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
