"We are working on effective protection of energy infrastructure facilities" - Deputy Prime Minister Kubrakov
Speaking to deputies about energy and critical infrastructure protection, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that the Ministry of Infrastructure is responsible for nearly 4,000 critical infrastructure facilities, ranging from railway and water utility traction substations to fly-over junctions and port infrastructure. For each of them, the specialized enterprise finds different types of protection - from the simplest, such as gabions and big bags, to the most complex and expensive, such as the installation of electronic warfare equipment.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov informed this on his Facebook page, Censor.NET reports.
In addition, according to Oleksandr Kubrakov, in September last year, in accordance with the Government's decision, the Ministry of Infrastructure team accepted an obligationto build physical protection for 22 distribution substations of NPC Ukrenergo. Only 22 of the existing 90 trunk substations and thousands more smaller ones.
"The decision on what kind of protection should be provided was made jointly with engineers from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military engineers from the United States, Britain, Japan and Germany.
At all 22 facilities for which our team is responsible, the work on the construction of Level II protection has been completed or is in the final stages. In some areas, power distribution has been preserved thanks to these shelters," Kubrakov said.
He also said that the protection of energy generation facilities, such as thermal power plants, thermal power stations, or hydroelectric power plants, has never been the responsibility of the ministry. "It is obvious that it is impossible to protect static objects of several hectares in size with any sarcophagus - it is too long and expensive. The only possible solution is air defense. We are dependent on rhythmic supplies of weapons from partner countries," Kubrakov says.
As a reminder, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure, recently participated in a meeting of the G7+ Coordination Group to support Ukraine's energy sector. During the meeting, updated data on the damage and needs of Ukraine in connection with Russia's attacks on energy infrastructure were presented. A plan was also presented to modernize and protect generating facilities for consumers in preparation for the heating season.
Earlier it was reported that key power substations in several regions of Ukraine that suffer the most from Russian shelling have withstood and are withstanding enemy attacks thanks to the second level of protection.
