Kyiv, Odesa and Kryvyi Rih at heightened risk this winter, says The Economist

Kyiv, Odesa and Kryvyi Rih face an elevated risk of energy collapse this winter as Russia may focus on striking Ukraine's transmission network, according to The Economist.

The publication reports that Moscow could target roughly 140 key substations of Ukrenergo, the national power-grid operator. In the event of such attacks, Kyiv, Odesa and Kryvyi Rih would be the most vulnerable Ukrainian cities. The situation around Kyiv is particularly precarious: some substations serving the capital lack full backup capacity, and the high-voltage lines that bring electricity from nuclear power plants are also exposed.

The core problem may not be power generation itself but the ability to deliver electricity to consumers. Engineers warn of a possible cascading failure: a blackout can knock out water pumping, sewage treatment and central heating in quick succession. Coordinated strikes against a handful of critical nodes could therefore endanger multiple essential urban systems at once, compounding the humanitarian impact of winter power shortages.