The European Union plans to intensify its support for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine after Russia launched new attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which again affected Moldova’s energy system. European Commission representative Anna-Kaisa Itkonen made the announcement during a press briefing in Brussels, IPN reports.
The official said the power outages confirm that Moscow continues to use “winter as a weapon.” She stated that the European Union strongly condemns these strikes and will accelerate the delivery of assistance to restore and protect energy infrastructure.
Brussels is working on integrating the energy systems of Moldova and Ukraine into the European network and on financing the necessary reconstruction and resilience projects, Itkonen added. The European Commission remains in constant contact with authorities in Chisinau and Kyiv to assess immediate needs.
“Moldova can currently cover its needs thanks to Romania’s support, while Ukraine is forced to introduce power-cut schedules,” the EC representative said, emphasizing that the EU will increase support for both countries as winter risks rise.
Russia’s attack during the night of December 5 to 6 heavily targeted Ukraine’s railways and energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy announced that sites in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv were hit.
The shockwaves of these attacks also affected the Republic of Moldova: interconnection lines reached almost their limit, and Chisinau had to request emergency support from Romania.