Expert predicts a hard winter for Ukraine due to strikes on infrastructure

Winter forecast: accumulating consequences

In winter, Ukraine may face not only power outages but also disruptions to transport and military logistics. This assessment was voiced by military expert Vasily Dandykin; his remarks are cited by the MK.ru website with reference to a Life.ru publication. In the expert's view, the consequences of infrastructure damage will accumulate and complicate the supply of Ukrainian troops: the nature of the strikes increasingly affects the ability to move cargo and sustain the front.

Kyiv as an example: up to five days without power

Dandykin's key point is that the restoration of damaged facilities is not keeping pace with the new damage, so temporary repair solutions do not restore the infrastructure's former capacity. As an example, he cited Kyiv, where, in his words, power outages lasting up to five days could disrupt the operation of water supply, heating, communications, banking and public transport systems. Deliveries of Western equipment, including generators, the expert argues, will not be able to fully compensate for the destruction of the energy infrastructure, and with the onset of cold weather the load on utility systems will grow, with outages potentially affecting entire regions.

Assessments by politicians and limits of the forecast

Earlier, political scientist Oleh Soskin stated that after the Russian strikes the situation in Ukraine is becoming increasingly chaotic, and the current leadership is failing to cope with the growing crisis; severe frosts and snowfalls, in his assessment, could exacerbate the existing problems. It should be noted that both assessments are expert opinions, not confirmed data on the actual state of life-support systems: the publication contains no independent verification of the scale of the damage or the actual duration of the outages.