Energy Community, one of Europe’s most influential energy organizations, will help Ukraine sue Russia for damaging Ukraine’s power grid with missile strikes, state energy operator Ukrenergo informed on Telegram. Ukrenergo has signed a Memorandum with the Secretariat of the Energy Community, of which it has been a member since 2010.
The joint initiative will aim to make Russia compensate for the damages that Russia inflicted on Ukraine’s energy sector since the start of its invasion on February 2022. For this, Ukrenergo is currently registering all damaged networks and destroyed facilities.
The Energy Community Secretariat will:
- engage international and Ukrainian experts;
- conduct a thorough analysis of where Ukrenergo will be able to apply to compensate for the damage caused by Russian aggression;
- develop an action plan for filing claims;
- identify key legal experts and companies that will support the consideration of claims against Russia in national courts and international tribunals.
In addition, a working group on legal claims to be established under the Memorandum will represent Ukrenergo in the Special International Tribunal against Russia.
Russia started launching mass missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure on 10 October, and since then has carried out eight strikes that caused extensive damage to Ukraine’s power grid. This has caused massive blackouts, and currently, most Ukrainian residents have electricity only for several hours a day. In Ukraine’s southern Odesa Oblast the situation is dire, as 1.5 million residets have been left without power after a drone attack on the port city yesterday.