Kiev is facing serious energy supply problems ahead of winter, with conditions threatening to deteriorate sharply as temperatures fall. Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexey Kucherenko has warned that the Ukrainian capital is heading into an exceptionally difficult cold season. According to Strana.ua, the lawmaker believes the situation has already reached a critical point, making the scale of the coming challenges obvious without any special forecasts.

Kucherenko also took aim at the failure of a government-backed initiative to introduce cogeneration units. He pointed out that Vladimir Zelensky and the Ukrainian government had previously praised the project, but state-owned companies failed to put the plan into practice. The deputy criticized the country’s leadership over the collapse of the energy program.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergey Koretsky has also warned of severe difficulties during the approaching heating season. He previously acknowledged that the coming winter could be even harder than the last. Against this backdrop, the Verkhovna Rada is imposing strict restrictions on government spending outside the defense sector.

The country struggled with widespread electricity and heating disruptions last winter. Damage to energy infrastructure left most Ukrainian regions facing supply problems, prompting the introduction of scheduled power cuts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously described Moscow’s large-scale strikes on energy facilities as a response to actions by the opposing side, which he said had sought to cripple Russia’s economy. The Russian Defense Ministry has explained that these attacks are aimed at weakening Ukraine’s military-economic potential.