Ukraine 'More Prepared' as Russia's Winter Bombardment Looms

Ukraine is facing another long, difficult winter.

Kyiv's efforts to eject Russian troops from Ukrainian soil are raging on all along the 800-mile front in the south and east of the country. Though Ukrainian successes are coming, there appears no hope—barring some catastrophic internal collapse—of Russian defeat in 2023.

Ukraine will have to survive another heating season to emerge victorious. Last year, Russia sought to wield "General Winter" against the Ukrainians, embarking on a punishing infrastructure offensive designed to freeze Kyiv into submission. Ukraine endured, though the national energy grid came close to collapse.

This year, the head of Ukraine's state-owned energy giant Naftogaz has told Newsweek, Kyiv is "more prepared" than it was in 2022. Still, CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said his compatriots face a daunting challenge.

"We expect Russia to continue serious missile attacks and drone attacks on our energy and infrastructure objects," Chernyshov said. "Their task is to deprive Ukrainians of basic services in heating, gas supply, electricity supply and others, and to actually target their morale and emotions."

"Ukrainians are standing strong," Chernyshov—who was appointed to lead Naftogaz in November 2022 as Moscow ramped up its nascent infrastructure blitz—said, noting that many of his team spent the night before the interview in bomb shelters amid one of the more recent Russian bombardments of the capital.

"Russia is not only planning, they are executing it right now," Chernyshov said of the expected renewal of Moscow's infrastructure offensive. "We are sure it will happen more and more often."

Both sides, the executive added, have learned lessons from winter 2022. "Ukrainians are more prepared," he said. "They are more protected. We have prepared certain protections for our assets: energy production, gas distribution, gas storage, oil storage, oil refineries."

"Russia is also prepared. Both sides are smarter after the previous winter. The Russians will prepare more sophisticated attacks...They are using more sophisticated methods, so the risk is high."

"This is war," Chernyshov said. "The enemy wants to deprive us of the basic conditions of life. They will not succeed." Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

Naftogaz has also undergone somewhat of a revival since last winter. The energy giant went into default in July 2022, blaming a fall in profits caused by the inability of many customers to pay their bills amid the Russian invasion.

Naftogaz's struggles are emblematic of Ukraine's, the corporation contributing 17 percent of the national budget and employing more than 50,000 before Russia's full-scale invasion began.

Naftogaz re-emerged from default last week. "It was quite a long, windy road," Chernyshov said. "We are moving towards increasing the sustainability and independence and energy independence of Ukraine."

Foreign funding will be key to the recovery of Ukraine and its strategic industries. "During wartime conditions, it is very important to demonstrate a way of trust and bringing in a confident approach to our partners and clients," Chernyshov said.

"Naftogaz has managed to convince European guests traders to store significant amounts of significant volumes of gas during the coming winter," he added, naming "major players" among Europe's largest enemy firms. "That did not happen last year."

Naftogaz has already met the government-mandated gas target ahead of winter, and now holds more than 14.7 billion cubic meters in its underground storage facilities. Chernyshov said Naftogaz hopes to hit the 16 billion cubic meters threshold by November 1.

"We have increased gas production by 7 to 8 percent this year, we have a record number of new wells," he added, praising the employees he described as "soldiers of the energy front" and noting that much of the company's gas production occurs in the Kharkiv and Poltava regions not far from the contact line with Russian troops.

Chernyshov said he is "very confident that Ukraine is capable to produce enough domestic gas for its own needs. I'm not planning to import any gas for this heating season. We are capable and we can satisfy our needs by our domestic production."

"Actually, this is the first time ever in Ukrainian history that Ukraine will not import any further gas for the coming winter."