In brief: Ukraine’s government, led by Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, approved monthly bonuses of Hr. 30,000 ($670) for workers restoring energy, utility and railway infrastructure damaged in Russian strikes on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Russia is launching 300 to 400 drones a day at critical infrastructure, with more than 2,000 strikes recorded since August, Koretskyi said.
Ukraine’s government, led by Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, has approved monthly bonuses of Hr. 30,000 ($670) for workers restoring energy, utility and railway infrastructure damaged in Russian strikes.
Koretskyi announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 4, noting that the state assistance will go to energy, heating and gas workers, water supply and sanitation staff, municipal service employees and railway workers on top of their regular salaries.
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They will receive the assistance for every month they take part in restoration work, from November until the end of the heating season.
“This is a direct instruction from the President [Volodymyr Zelensky],” Koretskyi said, adding that “This is the least that the state can do for these specialists right now.”
The new payments appear to be larger than those introduced last winter, when workers involved in emergency restoration received Hr. 20,000 ($440) a month from January to March.
Nearly 40,000 specialists received the payments over that period, UNN reported.
Unprecedented Russian attacks
According to Koretskyi’s estimates, Russian forces launch 300 to 400 drones a day at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, while regularly striking it with missiles as well.
Repeated attacks on power lines and exposed parts of the grid means crews must restore the same equipment over and over again, in volumes many times greater than in any previous year, he said.
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Since August, more than 2,000 strikes have been recorded.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Russia carried out one of its largest attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector, striking facilities more than 20 times in 24 hours.
According to state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo, thousands of energy workers worked through the night to restore electricity.
Out of 289 Russian drones sent across Ukraine during the same massive attack on its energy infrastructure, three were sent toward a substation vital to the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.
Another 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles were launched across Ukraine, Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal said in a separate statement on Tuesday.
Beyond the damage to the power grid, Ukrainian citizens also faced disruptions to other essential services, including water supplies, which were cut off in parts of the country as key facilities lost power.
Crews working under threat of repeated attacks
The winter season is particularly critical for Ukraine’s emergency workers, as Russia is widely expected to intensify its campaign against the country’s energy and water infrastructure, relying mainly on ballistic missiles which are nearly impossible to deter without Patriot interceptor missiles.
Moscow has also consistently relied on so-called “double tap” strikes, during which it hits the same site a second time to target rescue workers as they carry out search, rescue or repair operations.
According to a report published on May 6, Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian emergency responders at least 401 times since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. At the time, it was estimated that at least 43 were killed and 258 wounded – a toll that has since risen further.
On Monday, Nov. 2, Russia struck a school in Komyshuvakha with nine guided aerial bombs (KABs) while residents gathered to collect humanitarian aid. Rescuers and police officers who arrived at the scene were targeted in a second attack.
Two emergency workers, Denys Konovalenko and Oleksii Sushchevskyi, both 44, were killed in the strike, while two more rescuers were hospitalized as the overall death toll rose to 40.
Earlier in June, five State Emergency Service (DSNS) rescuers were killed and at least five others wounded in a double-tap strike while fighting a fire.
A firefighter with over 20 years in service was killed in a “double-tap” attack on Aug. 24.
On Oct. 24, three emergency rescues were wounded during Russia’s drone attacks on Kharkiv.
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