US Terminates Support for Ukraine’s Energy Restoration

The US is terminating aid to help Ukraine restore its energy system that has been devastated by Russian attacks. 

NBC News, citing two USAID officials working on the agency’s Ukraine mission, said the decision was made by the US State Department this week. 

“It significantly undercuts this administration’s abilities to negotiate on the ceasefire, and it’d signal to Russia that we don’t care about Ukraine or our past investments,” one USAID official involved in the Ukraine mission told NBC News.

“Russia is fighting a two-pronged war in Ukraine: A military one but also an economic one. They’re trying to crush the economy, but USAID has played a central role in helping it be resilient, [including] shoring up the energy grid…We’ve provided vast amount of support to the Ukrainian government to avoid a macroeconomic crisis,” the official added. 

Katarina Mathernova, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, said in summer 2024 that Russia’s strikes had deprived Ukraine of more than nine gigawatts (GW) of power production since March – half of what was needed to power Ukraine over the last winter.

Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine had 56 GW of installed capacity – sometimes called nameplate capacity – and 36 GW of actual capacity.

For context, a single GW is enough to power approximately 750,000 homes simultaneously in the US. Ukraine lost nine times that within three months during Russian strikes in the summer of 2024. 

Other Topics of Interest

‘Have You Ever Been to Ukraine?’ – ‘Disrespectful’ Zelensky Spars with JD Vance

The US vice president clashed with Zelensky during a White House meeting with Trump where the officials were meant to discuss a security deal – but instead ended up arguing. Read it word for word.

At the time, official figures point to Ukraine having lost more than half of its power generation capacity due to infrastructure being damaged, destroyed, or forced under Russian occupation.

Though part of the energy system in Ukraine has been restored in recent months, suspended aid from Washington could once again plunge Ukraine into darkness similar to the summer of 2024, when electricity was available for four hours a day at times. 

Russian strikes on Ukrainian gas infrastructure in recent months have also deprived Ukraine of 40% domestic production, prompting concerns that Ukraine might not be able to keep homes warm during the winter season, when temperatures can reach below freezing.