First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, together with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council António Costa, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, as well as the Heads of Government of Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Croatia, and Sweden, ministers and other distinguished guests, visited one of Kyiv’s combined heat and power (CHP) plants.
Denys Shmyhal expressed his gratitude to the international partners for visiting Ukraine on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion and demonstrated the consequences of Russian strikes on Ukrainian CHP facilities.
“At sites like this, the war ceases to be statistics or an image on a screen. Here, it becomes evident that Russia is waging war against light, against heat, against normal life and the very possibility of living,” the Minister of Energy stated.
According to him, the CHP plant visited by the delegation had provided heating to approximately 500,000 residents of Kyiv. Over the past four years, Russia has carried out 13 missile and drone attacks against the facility, nine of them within the last six months. In January, following another strike, the plant ceased electricity generation. In early February, five ballistic missiles struck the site, halting heat production. As a result, more than 1,100 apartment buildings, 118 schools and kindergartens, and 18 hospitals were left without heating.
“This is simultaneously a crime scene and evidence of Russian barbarism, but also a place of our resilience, partnership, and solidarity. After every strike, repairs follow — often under the risk of renewed attacks. I am grateful to every country that provides the equipment necessary for recovery,” Denys Shmyhal emphasized.
He noted that this winter Ukraine’s energy sector has been supported by more than 40 countries and organizations. In 2025 alone, approximately €600 million was mobilized through the Energy Support Fund. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has received more than 2,000 humanitarian shipments for the energy sector.
