War and Energy: Weekly Review of Developments in Ukraine
The week highlighted the scale of accumulated losses and debts, from energy-sector damage estimated by KSE to market arrears and unpaid utility bills, against the backdrop of the Zaporizhzhia NPP losing external power.
Key developments of the week
- According to the KSE Institute, direct damage to Ukraine from the full-scale war reached USD 197.5 billion as of February 2026, up 16% from November 2024. Energy-sector damage grew by 25%, to USD 18.3 billion, mainly because of systematic attacks on generation, grids and other critical infrastructure. The power industry suffered most: generation USD 14.6 billion, transmission USD 2.3 billion, distribution USD 0.9 billion.
- As of 29 August, the Zaporizhzhia NPP had been without external power for more than a week after losing the 330 kV Feroslavna-1 line, and was running on emergency diesel generators. According to the plant's occupation administration, fuel would last about 10 days.
- The Cabinet updated the terms of the state guarantee on Ukrenergo's USD 825 million sustainability-linked bonds in connection with a debt management operation. It envisages a partial buyback of the bonds or an exchange for new securities, using DFC's political risk insurance mechanism.
- As of 20 August, the Guaranteed Buyer had paid producers 83% of what is due for 2026 electricity under the "green" tariff, paying out UAH 24.38 billion. Ukrenergo's debt to the company stands at UAH 14.85 billion, of which UAH 3.57 billion relates to January–July 2026.
- The Polish group Mosty plans to build the 900 MW South Dniester wind farm in Odesa region, with 130–150 turbines and expected output of about 3.15 million MWh a year. The project is currently going through environmental impact assessment.
- In the second quarter of 2026, households paid UAH 67.1 billion for utilities against UAH 53.5 billion billed. Total arrears at the end of June stood at UAH 104.2 billion, mostly for heating and hot water (UAH 33.8 billion) and gas (UAH 29.1 billion).
- The Cabinet directed an additional UAH 1 billion to communities in 16 regions for critical and social infrastructure recovery projects supported by the EIB, bringing the number of approved projects to 163.