Espreso correspondent Natalia Starepravo reported this from the forum.According to Ukrenergo Chief Engineer Vitaliy Zaichenko, Russia is trying to bring Ukraine’s energy system to collapse, but it remains standing.“Russia is learning. If previously their goal was to capture Kyiv in three days, now it is to completely destroy our energy system. They want to leave people without electricity and heat,” Zaichenko said.Frontline regions suffer the most, where controlled rolling blackouts are in effect. Despite these difficulties, the energy system remains resilient. European partners play a significant role by supplying equipment for repairs.“We have certain reserves, and thanks to our partners, we can quickly restore damaged components. But fuel is a commodity, its price constantly fluctuates, so energy resources must be conserved,” Zaichenko added.The EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Maternova, noted that since the start of the full-scale invasion, the European Union has provided over 3 billion euros to support Ukraine’s energy system.“These funds have gone to restoring and modernizing networks, supporting energy companies, investing in regional systems, and technological solutions. We have also begun investing in gas infrastructure to strengthen Ukraine’s energy independence,” Maternova said.She emphasized that 2023 was a “lost” year for many energy projects due to massive destruction, but the EU continues its strategic support — from financing repairs to creating backup capacities.Alina Bondarenko, Communications Director at DTEK, stressed that the company anticipated renewed attacks and prepared accordingly. DTEK completed a full cycle of preparations for the autumn-winter period, including three stages: repair campaigns, an investment program, and creating emergency reserves.“We knew attacks would start, so we prepared reserves. The hardest situation is in Donetsk region, where the scale of destruction is enormous. But even there, people have electricity — we work with Ukrenergo to restore power,” she said.According to her, during the attacks on October 10–13, the company restored electricity to millions of consumers, and Kyiv residents experienced stability by the end of the day after the massive strike.“Our partners helped restore equipment destroyed in previous attacks. Production of this equipment takes months, so building emergency reserves is our guarantee of reliability,” Bondarenko added.Natalia Boyko, a member of the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, described the current situation in the gas sector as "one of the toughest in all the years of the war."“Electricity partly depends on gas, heat often depends on gas. Naftogaz bears a huge burden to ensure the energy security of every Ukrainian city.”In the past two weeks alone, there have been six attacks on gas infrastructure facilities — including in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Some facilities are still burning, as access to them is impossible.“In February, we lost half of the gas supply in a single day. But we restored the networks and created equipment reserves. Our priority is to return every cubic meter of gas to the system,” Boyko said.Despite the destruction, Naftogaz was able to raise $2.5 billion for gas purchases, of which $1.5 billion came from European partners providing credit guarantees.“We urge consumers to save resources. If we use something today, we lose it in February. Gas consumption has already increased by over 20% compared to last year. Therefore, saving is also a form of defense,” the statement says.On the night of October 16, Russian drones again attacked energy facilities in various regions of Ukraine. Emergency power outages were implemented in several regions.