Ukraine energy system stable, no major power imports expected, ministry says

The Ukrainian energy system, severely damaged by Russian missile attacks in recent weeks, is now almost completely stabilised and the energy ministry said on Sunday no major imports were expected.

Ukraine's electricity imports reached a record high at the end of March after a string of Russian missile strikes on critical infrastructure caused blackouts in many parts of the country.

Since March 22, Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian thermal and hydropower stations as well as main networks on an almost daily basis, which has led to the blackouts.

Russian drones damaged the national grid company's high-voltage network facility in the eastern Kharkiv region overnight leading to some power cuts.

"Ukraine's energy system is stable and balanced," the ministry said in a statement.

It said power exports were expected at 115 megawatt hours (MWh) on Sunday while imports could total 1,179 Mwh.

Ukraine imported a record 18,649 MWh on March 26.

National grid company chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi told Reuters last week that Russian attacks had caused significant damage to the power system, but a total collapse was unlikely.

The grid company Ukrnergo said later on Sunday that Russian drones had damaged the company's high-voltage network facility in the eastern Kharkiv region overnight and the system operator had to introduce some power cuts.

"Today, Ukrenergo's dispatch centre has been forced to increase the volume of emergency power outages in Kharkiv and the region," the company said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, which lies some 30 km (20 miles) from the Russian border, has been bombed heavily during the 25-month war and has been badly affected as Russia has renewed missile and drone attacks on the energy system.