In addition to fighting the Russian aggressor on the battlefield, Ukraine is forced to quickly overcome the challenges associated with eliminating the aftermath of Russian strikes on critical infrastructure facilities to ensure the normal life of peaceful citizens. This was stated by Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko when delivering a speech online at the Ukraine Reconstruction and Recovery Conference, which is ongoing in The Hague.
"Ukraine is actually in a state of war and daily overcomes unprecedented challenges. Over the past two weeks, the occupiers, using cruise missiles and kamikaze drones of Iranian origin, have systematically and daily mounted terrorist attacks on the critical energy infrastructure of Ukraine. And now, during our communication, missiles and drones are flying over the territory of Ukraine," he said.
As Tymoshenko said, the terrorist state is purposefully destroying Ukrainian power plants, CHPPs and other critical infrastructure facilities every day. And every day, often under fire, Ukrainian energy workers and engineers are trying to restore the destroyed facilities and prevent the interruption of the supply of electricity, heat and water throughout the country.
"However, it is becoming more and more difficult to do this in view of the increase in the number of destroyed objects," the deputy head of the Office of the President added.
Tymoshenko said that, as of now, more than 30% of critical infrastructure facilities have been destroyed by Russian strikes.
"They do it deliberately. Their goal is to leave the country without power and heat on the eve of winter. This is a real genocide of Ukrainians, which the Russians have resorted to more than once in their history," he said.
In this context, the deputy head of the President's Office said: Ukraine needs equipment that will ensure the functioning of mobile and stationary heating points for the population. He called on the Netherlands to help in this direction.
"I want to call on the Netherlands to become a leader in helping Ukraine survive a possible blackout – no power, heating and water supply in the homes of Ukrainians, saving thousands of lives of our people," Tymoshenko said.
As the deputy head of the Office of the President said, as of the 238th day of the full-scale war, 97,406 destroyed infrastructure objects in all regions of the country were recorded in the dedicated online system.
He called on the Netherlands to actively participate in the implementation of the Fast Recovery Plan, which provides for the restoration of the most urgent facilities, which will enable Ukrainians to return home and survive the winter period normally.
Tymoshenko informed about the principles of implementation of this project with the involvement of the mechanisms of the Ukraine Recovery Fund.
The deputy head of the President's Office thanked the Netherlands for the initiative of holding a national business forum on the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine and the country's government for considering the possibility of patronage over Kherson region.
According to Tymoshenko, the event with the participation of government officials, representatives of the Agency for Entrepreneurship and the National Business Association is a real opportunity to discuss and find solutions to the challenges Ukraine faces, in particular, those related to the urgent recovery of critical infrastructure.
"We in Ukraine highly appreciate the support of the Dutch government and Prime Minister Rutte personally, who was in Ukraine on official visits already several times during the war, as well as the country's broad participation in reconstruction projects in Ukraine," Tymoshenko said.
"I hope that today's Conference will be another important step on this path," the deputy head of the President's Office said.
