Blackout in Ukraine possible only in theory – energy minister

That's according to Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko, the press service of the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said.

"For almost three months, our power grid has been operating under constant systematic shelling. Therefore, we already have a set of technical solutions to ensure the stability of its work. This applies to both generation and transmission of electricity. I am confident that the system will hold in the future in the face of further possible strikes," Galushchenko said.

He stated that there are a number of solutions both from the point of view of physical protection of energy facilities and technical balancing of the system and these solutions prove their effectiveness.

The ministry said that due to significant damage to both the generation and power transmission systems, electricity supply restriction schedules will have to be applied until the end of the heating season. However, they must be controlled.

"Our main goal is to make power outages planned and predictable, so that consumers clearly understand when electricity will be cut off and operators of distribution systems adhere to the power outage schedules," Galushchenko said.