The foreign ministry and other key ministries are putting the finishing touches to a plan to guarantee power supplies to around three million people in war-ravaged Ukraine, according to Italy’s government.
At meeting on Wednesday in Rome, the ‘Ukraine electricity emergency’ working group hammered out a list of materials and the logistics for their “imminent” shipment,”, said a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The panel contains representatives from the foreign, defence, environment and energy security and industry ministries, as well as Italy’s civilian protection department and national electricity grid operator Terna. The working group kicked off in December and is the brainchild of Italy’s premier, Giorgia Meloni, said the statement.
Ukraine’s national grid has been devastated by Russia’s months-long attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure, resulting in prolonged power cuts that have brought misery to the population and exacerbated the healthcare crisis amid freezing winter weather conditions.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin launched a deadly invasion of Ukraine on 24 February last year, to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” the former Soviet republic and “liberate” its eastern Donbas region.
Russia considers energy facilities as legitimate military targets, but Ukraine and its allies claim the attacks may constitute war crimes.
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