Ukraine’s Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk says that the country’s energy sector has experienced ‘unprecedented destruction’ because of Russian strikes.Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images
As Ukraine’s Energy Minister sat on a plane to Toronto this week for the G7 energy and environment ministers’ summit, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack against the country’s largest coal-fired power station, causing widespread damage.
On Friday, following two days of meetings, G7 countries pledged their support to shore up Ukraine’s natural gas supplies ahead of another winter under Russian assault, and help rebuild energy infrastructure that has been targeted by Moscow.
Issuing their first statement specific to that topic, G7 energy ministers said rebuilding Ukraine “has the potential to serve as a model for energy security and innovation, notably in building a modern, clean, decentralized, and resilient energy system.”
Svitlana Grynchuk, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy, told The Globe and Mail that the country’s energy sector has experienced “unprecedented destruction” because of Russian strikes.
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Regional and local transmission systems, high-voltage substations, coal and hydro power stations, natural gas infrastructure – all of it has been the target of Russian aggression, she said, with more than 65,000 attacks recorded since the war began in 2022.
Between March and September alone, more than 3,000 strikes have targeted critical infrastructure, disabling roughly 60 per cent of Ukraine’s domestic gas production capacity.
Ukrainians rely heavily on gas for heat and cooking, and Ms. Grynchuk said international assistance will be crucial to keeping people alive this winter.
“The situation is difficult, but stable,” she said. “We try to repair and reconnect very quickly.”
Ukraine’s heating season has already begun. Ms. Grynchuk said meetings in Toronto this week were “very constructive discussions with our partners” to help the country secure much-needed imports of natural gas.
Ms. Grynchuk said she pushed for additional sanctions against Russia, too.
“It’s very important not to allow Russia to use energy sources as a weapon, as an instrument for terror,” she said.
A firefighter works at the site of the apartment building hit during the Russian drone strike in Sumy, Ukraine, on Friday.Stringer/Reuters
Ukraine is also seeking from international allies the physical protection that comes from more air defence systems, and equipment to repair damaged infrastructure.
“The financial support and equipment support, it will help us to survive,” Ms. Grynchuk said.
Canada had already committed $70-million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund co-ordinated by the G7, which is used for emergency repairs, physical protection of energy infrastructure and the scaling-up of renewable energy in the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday that the federal government is accelerating the payment of the remaining $10-million of its pledge to rebuild facilities that have been damaged by Russian attacks in what she called “the most cynical part” of Moscow’s war effort.
“Ukraine security is our collective security – both Canada and the world’s,” Ms. Anand said.
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Starting this year, Canada will also aid Ukraine’s surveying, construction and engineering sectors with modernized, high-accuracy global positioning systems. Such systems can work even where ground stations and infrastructure used to pinpoint the locations of satellite and aircraft have been damaged by war, according to Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, Tim Hodgson.
Ukraine was invited to the G7 summit in Toronto by host country Canada, and this week Ms. Grynchuk and Mr. Hodgson signed an initial agreement for energy co-operation between the two countries.
Mr. Hodgson said Friday the support that Canada has shown Ukraine was “expressed as deeply by all of our G7 colleagues” during the summit.
Indeed, Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Katherina Reiche, said this week her country will increase donations and supplies of energy infrastructure to Ukraine to rebuild those attacked by Russia.
“Ukraine is facing its fourth winter of Russian attacks. Russia attacks very precisely critical energy infrastructure, energy production grids, heating systems, very precisely, every year,” Ms. Reiche told media Thursday.
“It is of utmost importance that we will secure energy supply in Ukraine, that people there can survive.”
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U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the United States was part of discussions about how G7 countries can deliver emergency replacement parts and energy to Ukraine, and intends to work with European allies to get the country through the winter.
“Hopefully, with President Trump’s efforts, we can bring that war to an end as soon as possible. It’s dragged on way too long with an incredibly destructive human toll,” he said.
As the war drags on, Ms. Grynchuk said Ukraine is using the need to rebuild its energy systems as a chance to also improve them, including adding more renewable and gas-fired power generation projects.
“For us, it’s very important to use this time – even this very challenging time – to transform our energy system,” she said.
“Some part of this repairing is the new technologies, the new solutions. It’s new new approaches, some digitalized and smart solutions. We try to adapt to the conditions which we have in a positive and efficient way.”